On April 23, 2026, Crystal police were dispatched to an assault report phone call. The reporting party was the program director for a group home located on Colorado Avenue North in Crystal, Hennepin County. The reporting party stated that a resident of the home, Victim herein, had been assaulted by a staff member, MAGDALENE WEATTA CAINE [DOB REDACTED], Defendant herein, the previous evening, April 22, 2026. She stated that Victim [NAME REDACTED] into an altercation during which Defendant threw a pot of water on Victim, pulled Victim’s hair, and struck Victim [NAME REDACTED], causing a dislocated finger.
Reporting party further stated that Victim has a history of making up stories, but that she’d spoken to staff members that witnessed the incident and they corroborated Victim’s statement, so she believed Victim. Officers responded to the group home and spoke to Victim. Victim is a vulnerable adult diagnosed with mild intellectual disability, impulse control disorder, borderline personality disorder, autism spectrum disorder, fetal alcohol disorder, ADHD, and PTSD. Victim [NAME REDACTED] incident started because Defendant brought her the wrong ranch dressing for her snack.
They began arguing and she got mad because Defendant was not listening to her and was being mean to her, so she threw some oranges in the trash and went to her room. Defendant then came into her room with a cooking pot full of water and threw the water all over her. This made her mad, and she and Defendant started yelling at each other again. Defendant then started to hit her with the pot, and she hit Defendant back in self-defense. She stated that Defendant was swinging the pot and it struck her in her hand and hurt her middle finger.
At some point, another staff member, Witness 1 herein, came in and was trying to get Defendant off of her. Victim got the pot out of Defendant’s hands and left the room. Defendant then attacked her from behind and started pulling her hair. A second staff member, Witness 2 herein, came in and intervened as well. She stated she dropped the pot, went to her room to change, then left the home. She later contacted the reporting party, who took her to the hospital because her finger was hurt and swollen.
She stated that she could not close her fingers on her right hand and her middle finger was dislocated. Medical records from North Memorial Medical Center confirm Victim sustained a dorsal dislocation of the proximal interphalangeal joint of the right middle finger along with a small avulsion fracture. The injury required reduction in the emergency department and resulted in temporary impairment of Victim's finger/hand. Witness 1 stated that Victim [NAME REDACTED] into an argument over ranch dressing and Victim [NAME REDACTED] into the trash and went to her room.
