A man jumped out of a truck and tried to drag a woman into his vehicle outside a Golden Valley neurology clinic, pepper-spraying a second woman as bystanders rushed to help, according to charges.
Todd Alan Smith, 63, of Cokato, faces a charge of attempted kidnapping for trying to remove the woman from the Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology parking lot without her consent.
According to the complaint, officers responded to the clinic on August 17, 2026, after multiple witnesses reported a commotion in the parking lot. Several people told police they saw two men attack a group of three women, with the women yelling for help and witnesses calling 911.
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When officers arrived, they found the pepper-sprayed woman being decontaminated with eye wash on the front lawn. She told police she and another woman were helping a third woman, who has dementia, into their car after an appointment when a dark-colored truck pulled up. Smith and another man jumped out, and Smith pepper-sprayed her before trying to drag the third woman into his truck.
The complaint states the third woman was yelling that she did not want to go, while Smith tried to pull her into the vehicle. The other two women fought Smith off as more people ran out of the clinic to assist. Smith and the other man then fled the scene.
The women identified Smith to police. The complaint notes that people close to the woman he tried to take described Smith as abusive and exploitative toward her, and that her guardians make all her medical decisions and provide her care. The charge was filed Wednesday, August 19, in Hennepin County District Court.
About This Charge
Minnesota’s kidnapping statute is § 609.25. Because the charge is an attempt, § 609.17 caps the sentence at half the completed-offense maximum: up to 10 years in prison when the victim is released in a safe place without great bodily harm, and up to 20 years when those mitigating conditions are absent. Related offenses include false imprisonment (§ 609.255) and depriving another of parental rights (§ 609.26).
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Jurisdictional Context
Hennepin County is Minnesota’s most populous jurisdiction. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office handles felony prosecutions across Minneapolis and 45 surrounding cities; the Fourth Judicial District presides over felony arraignments and trials at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.
