Crime & Safety

Burnsville Man Charged with Strangling Woman, Resisting Arrest

Raul Chavez-Pena is charged with domestic assault by strangulation and obstructing the legal process.

A Burnsville man has been charged with repeatedly strangling a woman and fighting with officers when they arrived to investigate the incident.

Raul Chavez-Pena, 20, faces a felony charge of domestic assault by strangulation, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. 

He is also charged with obstructing the legal process, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine, and misdemeanor domestic assault, which has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

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According to the criminal complaint, Burnsville police were called to a home on Burnsville Circle just after 11:30 p.m. Jan. 5 to investigate a report of domestic assault. 

Dispatchers told police that they could hear “yelling and crying” over the phone before the call was disconnected.

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When they arrived, police heard yelling and screaming coming from inside the home, and saw Chavez-Pena walk around the outside corner of the house, according to the complaint.

Police ordered Chavez-Pena to halt. He stopped, then walked toward the officer in an “aggressive manner, staring at the officer and clenching his fists,” the complaint says.

Chavez-Pena got down onto the ground, but as police escorted him from the scene, he planted his feet on the ground, tensed his upper-body muscles and threw his arms and shoulders backward, almost striking an officer in the face, according to the complaint.

Chavez-Pena continued to resist officers, kicking and attempting to escape from custody, the complaint charges. Police performed a preliminary breath test on Chavez-Pena, who registered a .152 blood-alcohol concentration, according to the complaint.

Police interviewed the victim, who was crying and “extremely upset,” the complaint says. She said she and Chavez-Pena had argued over “family issues,” and that during the argument he became increasingly aggressive, eventually slapping her in the face.

The victim told police she slapped him back, at which point Chavez-Pena hit her again and kicked her in the leg. During the assault, the victim said, Chavez-Pena put his hands around her neck “multiple times” and strangled her until she was unable to breathe.

Police said the victim’s face was swollen and she had blood coming from her mouth. She also had multiple bruises on her arms and her left leg and a swollen lip. The victim told police that Chavez-Pena had inflicted some of the bruises the day before.

Chavez-Pena remained in the Dakota County Jail Thursday on an $80,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for Jan. 31 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.


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