MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 21-year-old man is accused of causing a crash that injured his ex-girlfriend.
According to the complaint, Jesse Lanza, of Blaine, is charged with domestic assault and criminal vehicular operation after police say he grabbed the steering wheel of his ex-girlfriend’s car, jerked the wheel and caused the vehicle to rollover.
A Blaine Police officer responded to the rollover crash around 8:13 p.m. Feb. 19 near Highway 10 and Highway 65 in Anoka. The officer noticed the vehicle on its roof, sitting on the shoulder of eastbound Highway 10.
Paramedics on scene transported a man and woman to Mercy Hospital. A witness on scene told the officer he was driving behind the car when it made a sudden jerk to the right and began driving straight into the embankment, hit the shoulder and flipped over twice.
An officer spoke with the female victim at the hospital, who said she and Lanza were traveling east, headed to a gym to play basketball when they began arguing. She said he started punching the dashboard of her car, acted like he was going to punch her and then threw her cell phone out of the car.
She said that’s when he grabbed the steering wheel, jerked it to the right and caused the car to veer off the road. She said they were traveling at about 70 mph when he grabbed the wheel.
She said she and Lanza used to be in a relationship but they broke up last July when she obtained an Order for Protection against him. She said two months ago they began talking to try and work on their relationship.
The woman suffered cuts and bruises all over her body in the crash.
