Burnsville Man Charged with Waving Knife at Woman 'Like a Pirate'

A Burnsville man has been charged with strangling a woman and waving a knife around “like a pirate,” allegedly slashing the woman’s wrist and requiring her to get six stitches.

Nathaniel Cole Flowers, 25, is charged with two felonies: making terroristic threats, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine; and domestic assault by strangulation, which has a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called to on June 8 on a report of a stabbing. They spoke to the victim, who said she had argued with Flowers earlier that evening at their Burnsville apartment.

During the argument, Flowers grabbed the victim by the throat and began to strangle her, according to the complaint. The woman said she feared that she would lose consciousness.

Flowers then grabbed a large chef’s knife and began swinging it around “like a pirate,” according to the complaint. The woman said Flowers moved toward her with the knife. When she put her hands up to protect her face, he cut her wrist.

The cut on the victim’s wrist required six stitches to close it.

Police interviewed Flowers, who admitted that he and the woman had argued and that he had been swinging the knife around to “intimidate” her, according to the complaint. He told police that he didn’t intend to cut her.

Flowers is free on a $5,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled July 3 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.