The following is based on your complainant’s review of the reports of other officers and your complainant’s own investigation: On June 5, 2026, at about 10:50pm, Ramsey County Emergency 911 received a call from the area of [ADDRESS REDACTED]. N., St. Paul, Ramsey County. The caller said that a man whom she was dating had strangled her and taken her phone; the caller was using the phone of a passerby. St. Paul Police responded. On arrival, officers were directed by bystanders toward a man walking nearby who matched the description provided by the 911 caller.
As they attempted to detain the man to investigate, he fled on foot. After they threatened to use a taser, he got on the ground and placed his hands behind his back. But he then repeatedly slammed his own head into the sidewalk, saying that he wanted to kill himself. Eventually he was secured. As the man was walked to a squad car, he said spontaneously that “she chased me with scissors because she just wanted to f*** me and dip. I got mad so she chased me with scissors…. I bear -hugged her and held her down.
I did not grab her by her throat. I’m going to kill myself.” He then pulled away from officers again and again started to slam his head against the road. He was taken into custody and identified as the defendant, JOHN ROBERT KOONTZ ([DOB REDACTED]). Officers found the 911 caller nearby. She was identified as RA ([DOB REDACTED]). She said that she had the defendant online about a week earlier. She said that they had corresponded and that on this night, she had come to spend the night with him at 399 Colborne.
She said that they had had sexual intercourse in his bedroom, after which she used the bathroom. She said that when she returned and told him that she did not wish to continue, he became angry, yelling at her and calling her a “whore.” She said that he then strangled her, squeezing her neck with both hands, and slapped her. She said that eventually she pushed him off and ran out of the home; she said that he had taken her phone. RA said that her throat hurt slightly as a result of the strangulation.
She said that she “thought he was going to f****** kill me.” The defendant’s father provided access to the home. Photographs were taken. In a follow up interview, RA reiterated her statements at the scene. She said that the strangulation lasted about 10 to 15 seconds. She said that at one point, she grabbed a vase out of frustration and anger; she said that she intended to throw it at the defendant, but he grabbed her arm, causing it to fall. She said that she grabbed a pair of scissors to protect herself, but he took them from her.
In a Mirandized interview, the defendant confirmed that he and RA had met online about a week earlier and that she had come to 399 Colborne, where they had sexual intercourse. He said that he believed that she was going to stay for the whole weekend and became angry when she told him that she was leaving; he said that he punched the wall, making a hole in it. He claimed that she slapped his face, threw a vase at him, and chased him with scissors. He said that, in self-defense, he “bear-hugged” her and put both hands in the area of her neck.
