A 63-year-old Minneapolis woman is accused of waving a knife at her neighbor and threatening to kill her during a confrontation at their apartment building last week, court documents say.
The incident happened Friday, April 3, at the downtown apartment on the 300 block of Hennepin Ave. in Minneapolis.
The suspect, Taras Denise Bloodsaw, now faces charges of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and threats of violence.
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Minneapolis police were called to the building around 11:40 a.m. for a report of a threat involving a weapon, according to court documents. When officers arrived, they spoke with one of Bloodsaw’s neighbors. She told officers Bloodsaw had threatened to kill her while holding and waving a knife near her, which made her fear Bloodsaw would hurt her with it.
A witness who saw the altercation backed up the victim’s account, the complaint says. That witness told officers they saw the knife, heard the threats and eventually intervened.
When officers contacted Bloodsaw, she told them she’d been having “problems” with her neighbor and acknowledged there had been an altercation. She said the knife was back in her apartment.
Bloodsaw was arrested by Minneapolis police and booked into the Hennepin County Jail that afternoon, records show. A judge initially set her bail at $50,000 when the complaint was filed Monday. She appeared before Judge Juan Hoyos on Tuesday afternoon and was released on conditions that include no contact with the victim, no use of firearms or ammunition, staying a reasonable distance from the victim’s residence and using a police escort to enter the premises.
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Bloodsaw was released from jail Tuesday evening and her request for a public defender was granted. Her next court date, an omnibus hearing, is scheduled for May 27.
This isn’t the first time Bloodsaw has faced the same top charge. In December 2022, Hennepin County prosecutors charged her with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon after she struck a family member with a hammer at an apartment in the same building, according to court records. That charge was later amended to third-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm and Bloodsaw was convicted in 2023. The felony conviction was deemed a gross misdemeanor at sentencing and she was discharged from probation in November 2024.
Court records also show Bloodsaw was convicted in 2002 of terroristic threats, a crime now called threats of violence under Minnesota law. In that 2002 case, a second-degree assault count against her was dismissed.
Second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a $14,000 fine.
