On April 5, 2026, at approximately 8:11 P.M., officers were called to the report of a domestic disturbance on the 1400 block of Congress Street in the City of South Saint Paul, County of Dakota, State of Minnesota. The reporting party told dispatch he saw a woman attempting to exit a vehicle and screaming for help while another person was trying to pull her back into the vehicle. Officers responded and located the vehicle as well as the occupants, the victim and JESUS ROSAS LECHUGA [DOB REDACTED]. Officers spoke with the victim, using a language translation service, who stated that she was in the vehicle with her husband, ROSAS LECHUGA. ROSAS LECHUGA told the victim that he wanted to go buy marijuana and the victim told him she wanted to get out of the car.
ROSAS LECHUGA pulled the vehicle over on Congress Street and hit the victim [NAME REDACTED] on her left cheek with an open hand. ROSAS LECHUGA then grabbed the victim by the hair and pulled on it to prevent her from leaving the vehicle. ROSAS LECHUGA also grabbed the victim [NAME REDACTED], causing her pain, and threatened to “break her arm.” The victim [NAME REDACTED] attempted to exit the vehicle but was physically restrained by ROSAS LECHUGA and that she was in fear of ROSAS LECHUGA causing her more harm.
While speaking with officers, they noted the victim was crying and physically shaking and that the victim’s left cheek was slightly red. The reporting party gave a statement to officers that he was walking down the street when he heard arguing coming from the vehicle. The reporting party then saw the female in the vehicle waive out the window and yell “no, no, no”, “don’t do this”, and “please don’t.” The reporting party told officers he also saw the female get out of the vehicle before a hand reached out from inside the vehicle and pulled her back in.
The reporting party then saw ROSAS LECHUGA exit from the driver’s side of the vehicle. Officers spoke with ROSAS LECHUGA, who was argumentative and refused to explain to officers what had happened before officers arrived. While speaking with ROSAS LECHUGA, officers did note his eyes were red and glossy and his speech was slurred. When ROSAS LECHUGA was arrested, officers also noted the odor of consumed alcohol coming from him. ROSAS LECHUGA was asked to complete standardized field sobriety tests, which he agreed to complete.
During the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, officers observed all six clues of intoxication. ROSAS LECHUGA was provided the opportunity to provide a 3 19HA-CR-26-490 Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 4/7/2026 preliminary breath test, which he refused to take. Based on those observations, officers believed ROSAS LECHUGA was under the influence of alcohol. ROSAS LECHUGA was read the Breath Test Advisory, provided the opportunity to speak to an attorney, and asked to submit to a breath test.
ROSAS LECHUGA refused to provide a breath sample stating “I am going to exercise my right to remain silent. I feel like my rights are being violated.” A review of ROSAS LECHUGA’S driving record shows a prior impaired driving-related loss of license on December 12, 2025.
