Man Pleads Guilty to Using Car to Run Down Victim in Minneapolis Assault

Sep 3

A Minneapolis man has admitted to running down another man with a car during a confrontation earlier this year and is now set to be sentenced next month in Hennepin County court.

According to court records, 35-year-old Carlos Vondale Weems pled guilty on Aug. 28 to attempted first-degree assault for striking a man with a vehicle near 22nd Avenue North & Fremont Avenue North on May 6.

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Police reports say officers were called just before 8 p.m. and found the victim unconscious in the roadway with a severe head injury. He was taken to the hospital where doctors treated him with 13 staples and other care for injuries consistent with being thrown over a moving vehicle.

Surveillance footage from nearby buildings captured the lead-up to the crash. The video showed Weems and the victim in a heated confrontation that began with a face-to-face dispute while the victim attempted to walk away. Investigators said the victim’s former girlfriend, who was recording the argument on her phone, had driven Weems to the intersection before he took the wheel of the car. Moments later, the Chevrolet Impala Weems was driving accelerated the wrong way on Fremont Avenue North and swerved directly into the victim, sending him onto the hood before he was thrown to the pavement.

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Officers later located the damaged Impala behind a home on Emerson Avenue North. When police stopped the vehicle as it drove away on May 20, Weems was behind the wheel. In an interview with investigators, he admitted the incident stemmed from an ongoing feud that also included fistfights earlier the same day. Videos posted online confirmed his involvement.

Weems was originally charged with first-degree assault causing great bodily harm, a felony carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, Weems will plead guilty to attempted first degree assault and will be sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Weems remains in custody ahead of his sentencing hearing scheduled for Oct. 2.

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