Minnetonka Man Accused of Strangling Woman, Breaking Her Ribs
Police say a Minnetonka man became upset when his girlfriend arrived home without buying diapers for his son and assaulted her repeatedly.
Editor's note, 5/1/13: The charges in this case were dismissed on April 30, 2013.
A Minnetonka man remains in jail after police say he strangled a woman, hit her hard enough to break her ribs and threatened to kill her.
The 27-year-old man is charged with three felonies in the Nov. 16 incident: third-degree assault resulting in substantial bodily harm and making terroristic threats, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, and domestic assault by strangulation, for which the maximum penalty is three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Minnetonka police were called to a home in the 4600 block of Lynwood Terrace Nov. 16 to investigate a domestic assault, according to the criminal complaint.
Officers met with the victim, who said that her boyfriend got upset when she returned home without buying diapers for his son. He began to yell at her and followed her into the bedroom, where he grabbed her by the throat and strangled her, the woman told police.
As he was strangling her, he hit her in the face, according to the complaint. When he let go after about 30 seconds, he told her he was going to kill her, then grabbed a pillow and held it over her mouth and nose, the victim told police.
When the man removed the pillow, he hit the woman again in the face and numerous times in her ribs and torso, according to the complaint. He pushed her down the hallway and told her he was going to “finish her off,” but she broke away and ran to her car, she told officers.
The defendent pursued the victim and held on to the roof rack on her car as she drove away, according to the complaint.
Police arrested the man, who claimed that he was the assault victim, showing tears in his shirt and several superficial cuts on his arm, according to the complaint. However, he couldn’t provide police with details about what the victim used to cut him.
Officers determined that the man had cut himself to make himself appear to be the victim, according to the complaint.
The man remains in the Hennepin County Jail on a $20,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Dec. 19 in Hennepin County District Court.
Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Get our newsletter | Blog for Patch
