White Bear Lake Man Charged For Threatening Girlfriend With Knife
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 37-year-old man is in custody after a standoff at a White Bear Lake residence Thursday afternoon forced Highway 61 in the area to be closed for several hours.
White Bear Lake police responded at about 1:35 p.m. Thursday to a domestic disturbance between a male suspect and female victim on the 2100 block of 1st Street. When officers arrived, the victim met officers outside and said he boyfriend threatened her with a knife. She was not injured, and the suspect was still in the residence.
Troy Strawn was charged with assault, domestic assault and threats of violence in connection with the incident.
According to the charges, 911 dispatchers received two calls, one from Strawn's ex-fiance, who said he had assaulted her with a knife. She said the two got into an argument, and he held a knife to her throat. She said he hides knives everywhere in the house.
Officers tried to make contact with Strawn at the front door, and he ignored commands to show his hands. He refused to come out and talk about the incident, shut the front door and walked out of view. The victim told police she had been in a significant relationship with Strawn, and the incident started when he was drunk and hostile.
The complaint states Strawn showed her a rope, and he asked her if she wanted to see if he could choke her out with it. He later brought a filet knife into the bedroom. He told her he had sharpened it, and started touching her rib cage with it. He made several threatening gestures with the knife, and she told him it was freaking her out and to put the knife away. He became angry and said if she tried to take the knife from him, he would assault her.
The complaint states the woman took a nap and when she woke up, she tried to talk to Strawn about his disturbing comments and behaviors. He ignored her, and started playing with a pocket knife in front of her. She told him she was tired of his threats and was going to contact her father. He said not to talk to her father, and that something bad could happen to hm.
She asked if he was threatening her father, and he got upset, choked her with his left hand and held a knife with his right hand to her throat. She said she couldn't breathe and thought she was going to pass out.
The complaint states the victim tried to call her father from the front porch, Strawn grabbed the phone and tried to break it in half before throwing it in the yard.
After several hours of negotiations, officers fired several rounds of chemical irritant into the home to force Strawn to surrender. He was taken to Regions Hospital after saying he was feeling suicidal, and booked into the Ramsey County Jail under suicide watch.
Strawn faces up to 15 years in prison and $29,000 in fines.