SLP Woman Charged with Domestic Assault

A St. Louis Park woman has been charged with assaulting an Eden Prairie woman and then refusing to allow her to call police.

Amber Rae Kraft, 24, is charged with interfering with a 911 call, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine, and domestic assault, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, signed by an Eden Prairie police detective, Eden Prairie officers were called to a report of a domestic disturbance in the 9100 block of Scarlet Globe Drive just after 7:30 p.m. Sept. 21.

In her call to police, the victim said she had locked herself in a bathroom because she was afraid of Kraft, who she said had been assaulting her.

When officers arrived, they found the door locked. They knocked and announced themselves, but got no response, and asked dispatchers to call the residents and ask them to open the door.

A dispatcher told police that Kraft had prevented the victim from answering the door. Police heard sounds of a struggle and an argument inside, and forced their way into the home, where they found Kraft standing over the victim, who was lying in a fetal position on a dog bed, according to the complaint.

Police noted a broken lamp on the floor near the two women and empty beer cans in the home, and noticed that Kraft smelled of alcohol.

The victim was crying, and her face was puffy, apparently from being struck, according to the complaint. An officer helped her to her feet, and the victim said, “She just can’t come back here. She scares me,” the complaint says.

The victim told police that she and Kraft had been sitting on a couch earlier that evening when Kraft stood up and began punching her, calling her obscene names. The victim said she grabbed a telephone and locked herself in a bathroom, but Kraft got the door open, wrenched the phone away from her, pushed her to the floor and continued to punch her.

After her arrest, Kraft admitted to police that she had told the victim that she hated her and that she was a “bad person,” and that she had forced her way into the bathroom to take the phone away from the victim because of what she heard her telling police, according to the complaint. She said she pushed the victim down and kept pushing her to keep her away from the phone, the complaint charges.

Kraft has been released from custody on a $3,000 bond. She is also facing outstanding Minneapolis warrants charging her with fourth-degree assault of a police officer, obstructing the legal process and disorderly conduct. Her next court appearance is scheduled Oct. 10 in Hennepin County District Court.