ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – A 39-year-old St. Paul woman is accused of hitting a tow truck driver with her car and taking him for an unwanted ride after he was trying to repossess it, according to charges filed Friday in Ramsey County Court.
Diana Rae Anderson, also known as Diana Rae Buckles, was charged with one felony count of third-degree assault and one felony count of terroristic threats in connection with the incident.
According to a complaint, Maplewood Police were called to the intersection of Larpenteur Avenue and Rice Street on Feb. 17 on a report of a man on the hood of a vehicle. When authorities arrived, they learned the man was a tow truck driver who does vehicle repossessions.
On that day, he saw a car in the area that matched a vehicle on his list for repossession. He located the car and was in the process of loading it onto his truck when a woman, later identified as Buckles, ran over from across the seat and got into the driver’s seat of the car. According to the complaint, Buckles hit the gas on the car and ran into the man, forcing him onto the hood of the car.
Buckles then drove through the parking lot they were in and swerved the car from side to side, trying to throw the man off, according to the complaint. She left the parking lot with the car and hit a pump, sending the man into the air and forcing him to land hard on the roof. She slammed on her brakes, then hit the gas, then hit the brakes again to try to throw him off. He fell off the car, and she fled the scene.
Police tracked down Anderson by her vehicle registration, and during questioning she said some guy jumped on her car and said “Give it up, b***ch.” She said she was afraid that a man had been sent by her ex-husband and denied that it was a tow truck driver. Anderson also denied hitting the man with the car, but rather that he jumped on the car as she was driving it, according to the complaint.
Anderson admitted that her car was being repossessed and didn’t call 911 because she didn’t want her ex-husband to know where she lives. Anderson has five previous felony convictions.
If convicted in this case, she faces up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines.
