Crime & Safety

SLP Woman Rescued by Neighbors After Ex-Boyfriend Allegedly Choked Her

Neighbors pulled the woman out of her apartment on the 2500 block of Highway 100.

A Minneapolis man is accused of chasing his St. Louis Park ex-girlfriend into her apartment and choking her until she feared for her life.

Caldwell Dugar Jr., 43, is charged with felony domestic assault by strangulation.

According to the criminal complaint:

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The St. Louis Park woman told police that Dugar chased her into her apartment on the 2500 block of Highway 100.

She said he caught her in the bedroom and pushed her face into the mattress, kneeled on her back, pulled back her head and covered her mouth with his left hand, slowing her breathing and preventing her from screaming.

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She told police she felt she was losing oxygen and that she would either suffocate or die from a broken neck. Once she stopped resisting, Dugan got off her back and she started crawling toward the door.

She eventually made it to the patio door and removed a wooden block Dugan had used as a lock.

Her neighbors, who had heard noises from the apartment building courtyard and had called police, pulled her out of the room to safety.

Her neighbors told police they saw Dugan strike her four or five times in the shoulder and chest.

Dugan was taken to Hennepin County Jail and faces up to three years in prison.


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