Man Charged with Felony Domestic Abuse in Inver Grove Heights

A Kasota man has been charged with felony domestic assault and fleeing a police after authorities say he choked a female victim and ran away from officers when they tried to arrest him at an Inver Grove Heights home last weekend.

Shawn Patrick Brandt, 35, is charged with felony domestic assault, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The charge of fleeing a police officer is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

According to a criminal complaint, filed in Dakota County District Court in Hastings, Brandt and the female victim were arguing Saturday evening inside her home on Graystone Avenue. The victim told police that Brandt — who had left the home by the time police arrived — was upset because she had received a text message from another man.

The victim told police that she tried to leave, but Brandt followed her outside and wouldn’t let her get into her car. As the argument continued, Brandt grabbed the victim's throat with both hands and said, “I could kill you,” according to the complaint.

Officers noticed red marks on the victim’s chest and on both sides of her neck, the complaint says.

Officers searched for Brandt outside the home and spotted him in a wooded area adjacent to 52nd Street East. When Brandt saw the police car, he ran into the woods, according to the complaint, and officers followed him on foot.

When Brandt heard the officers approaching him, he ran south toward Interstate 494, the complaint says. Officers yelled, “Stop, police!”, but Brandt kept running until police set up a perimeter and were able to catch and arrest him.

Brandt has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for domestic assault in 1995, domestic abuse in Wisconsin in 2004, second-degree arson in 2003, second-degree assault in 2003 and felony assault in 2006, for which he served more than two years in prison. Brandt also was convicted of fifth-degree assault in Le Sueur County last February.

Brandt remains in the Dakota County Jail in Hastings on a $75,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for June 13.