SLP Man Charged With Slashing Girlfriend

A St. Louis Park man is charged with attacking his live-in girlfriend with a knife, according to a criminal complaint filed by Hennepin County prosecutors last week.

According to the complaint, on Feb. 6, Evan Joseph Orlaska and his girlfriend got into an argument. The dispute became physical, and after it subsided, the woman told Orlaksa she was going to leave the apartment they shared.

The 21-year-old Orlaska then allegedly grabbed a butcher knife.

"Think you're going to leave?" he asked her, according to prosecutors. "You're not going anywhere."

The victim told police Orlaska then slashed her leg with the knife, causing three lacerations. She was in fear of her life, the woman told St. Louis Park police.

After his arrest, police say Orlaska said the woman had "egged him on," that it must have been an "accident" or "self-defense" that his girlfriend had been cut. He claimed the woman had tried to take the knife from his hands and threaten him with it. According to the criminal complaint, however, Orlaska admitted to placing the butcher block containing kitchen knives on top of the refrigerator, so his girlfriend could not have access to them.

Orlaska is charged with one count of second-degree felony assault, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and or a $14,000 fine. 

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