A woman suffered life-threatening injuries after she was beaten and then struck by an SUV driven by her boyfriend's cousin during a dispute on a Saint Paul street last week, according to criminal complaints.
De'Jah Marie Latese Cunningham, 26, and Adarius Steven Glees, 26, each face charges of first-degree assault and second-degree assault in Ramsey County.
Cunningham is accused of driving a white Honda Pilot into the victim while she lay on the ground. Glees is accused of punching, kicking and slamming the victim's head into the pavement before the vehicle struck her.
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Saint Paul officers responded to the 500 block of Charles Avenue around 1:40 p.m. on March 26 after a report that a woman had been intentionally struck by a driver. Officers found the victim lying on the roadway on her right side and with her legs bent. She was crying, moaning and asking for help, the court documents say. When asked who hit her, the woman identified Cunningham and said she drove into her on purpose.
The victim was taken by ambulance to Regions Hospital and rushed into surgery. Doctors told officers she suffered a pelvic fracture, a dislocated left hip, a laceration to her spleen, air and blood in her abdomen and internal bleeding that required the removal of a portion of her small intestine. The victim will likely need additional surgeries for the pelvic fracture, the complaint says.
The dispute reportedly began earlier that day at an apartment on Charles Avenue. The victim and Glees, her boyfriend, argued over money. Glees left and went to stay with Cunningham at a residence on Pond Avenue. When he returned to the apartment to drop off vehicle keys, the argument resumed.
A witness told police he heard yelling and doors slamming from the apartment that morning. Later, he saw the couple walking west on Charles Avenue and watched Glees slam the woman's head to the ground, then punch and kick her. A white SUV then drove forward while the woman was still on the ground, the witness said. Glees got in the SUV and they drove away.
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Ring camera footage captured the confrontation, with one video showing the victim following Glees down the street. Cunningham entered the frame and fought with the victim. At one point, Cunningham walked out of view. A white SUV then drove up and rolled onto the victim as she lay on the ground. A second angle showed the SUV's tires push the victim toward the curb, according to the court documents. Glees could be heard asking Cunningham why she did it. Cunningham yelled at him to get in the vehicle and they fled the scene.
The pair drove to a Maplewood address and then Glees went to a nearby Holiday gas station. Officers found the Honda Pilot parked at the gas station and arrested Glees when he walked out of the store. He told police he fled the crash because he was afraid of being arrested, saying he had been arrested for domestics before. Cunningham was then arrested at the Pond Avenue residence.
Both defendants face up to 20 years in prison on the first-degree assault charges. Cunningham made her first appearance in court on March 31 and Glees was due in court Wednesday.
