A criminal complaint filed October 26 charges 27-year-old Saint Paul resident Alaxis Danielle McGrath after a woman was found bleeding on a Regions Hospital parking ramp just after 2 a.m. on July 19. The charges are second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, taking or driving a vehicle without the owner's consent, and fifth-degree assault.
The complaint's account, as described by MN Crime, says the woman told investigators she had left McGrath's home after an argument late on July 18. She said McGrath got into the driver's seat of the woman's SUV and started driving while she was still alongside it. A security guard later found the woman on the hospital ramp and called police.
Woman Says She Was Dragged, Then Punched
The woman told investigators the SUV dragged her as it pulled away, leaving road rash and cuts. She said she managed to stand and tried to walk away, but McGrath returned and punched her in the face three to five times. According to the complaint account reported by the outlet, medical records reviewed by investigators noted facial bruising and scrapes on her knee and legs.
The woman walked to Regions Hospital for help. She told police that McGrath and another person approached her as she was heading there and said she would have to find her own car, according to the complaint account. Police later found the SUV empty near McGrath's home.
Conflicting Accounts Emerge in Police Interviews
Police received a different account from another person interviewed August 6. That person said the woman had been drunk, beaten McGrath, dragged her by the hair and swung a liquor bottle at him before driving away. He denied that he or McGrath had driven the SUV, according to the complaint account reported by the outlet.
In a police interview the following day, August 7, McGrath also denied driving the SUV. She told police the woman had thrown items out of it, grabbed her by the hair, dragged her across a parking lot and punched her, according to the complaint account.
McGrath is charged in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, taking or driving a vehicle without the owner's consent, and fifth-degree assault.
What Minnesota Law Says the Charges Involve
Minnesota's second-degree-assault statute covers an assault with a dangerous weapon that inflicts substantial bodily harm, and allows a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. The statute also includes taking or driving a motor vehicle without the owner's or an authorized agent's consent when the person knows or has reason to know consent was not given, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. These statutory descriptions do not establish whether the allegations satisfy the elements of the charges in this case.
