On November 29, 2025, at approximately 12:52 A.M., law enforcement was dispatched to a welfare check at the Holiday Gas Station in the City of St. Joseph, Stearns County, Minnesota. The caller reported a male yelling and pounding on the outside of a white vehicle in the parking lot while a female was inside the vehicle. As officers were arriving on scene, they observed a white sedan positioned between the gas pumps and the store entrance. The male was later identified as Adult A (fully identified in police reports), and the female driver was identified as Vera Marie Woods, [DOB REDACTED], the defendant herein.
As an officer approached the parking lot, Adult A was standing in front of the vehicle when the white sedan reversed a short distance and then rapidly accelerated forward. The officer observed the vehicle strike Adult A and throw him forward onto the ground. Adult A remained on the ground holding his ankle and stating he believed it was broken. The defendant exited the driver's side of the vehicle and stood over Adult A, yelling at him. Officers observed blood on the hood of the vehicle, later determined to be from a superficial cut on Adult A's hand.
Adult A was intoxicated and immediately told officers he did not want the defendant arrested, claimed the incident was his fault, and stated he jumped in front of the vehicle. The defendant told officers she did not intend to hit Adult A and stated she was attempting to get away from him. She reported Adult A had been pounding on her window and calling her a "whore." Officers obtained surveillance video from the Holiday Gas Station. The video corroborates the officer's observations and shows Adult A repeatedly approaching and positioning himself near the defendant's vehicle while the defendant moved the vehicle forward and backward multiple times in the parking lot.
Despite having a clear path to leave, the defendant repeatedly accelerated toward Adult A, stopped, and repositioned the vehicle. At approximately 12:58 A.M., the video shows the defendant rapidly accelerating while Adult A was directly in front of the vehicle, striking him and forcefully throwing him forward onto the pavement. The vehicle stopped immediately after impact. Adult A was transported by ambulance for medical treatment. The defendant was initially permitted to leave the scene. Later that day, officers observed Adult A exiting the same white sedan at a nearby apartment building where he and the defendant reside.
Adult A was using crutches and wearing a medical boot on his left foot. Adult A refused to sign a medical records release and continued to protest charges being filed against the defendant. The defendant was later arrested. In a Mirandized statement, she admitted that she intentionally 3 ••-CR-••-•••• Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 12/18/2025 accelerated toward Adult A in the parking lot and then applied the brakes, though she denied doing so to scare him. Complainant has reason to believe and does believe that all of the above information is true and correct.
