St. Cloud Man Jailed, Accused of Punching and Threatening a Woman

(KNSI) – A St. Cloud man is in jail after allegedly punching a woman in the face and threatening to kill her.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a domestic in progress in the area of 9th Avenue South and 9th Street South around 8:45 Thursday night. A neighbor heard two people arguing outside and told police he heard what sounded like a slap. He said he looked out and saw a woman lying on the sidewalk and 49-year-old Ray Shawn Jones trying to pick her up. The neighbor said they heard the woman yelling for help and asking someone to call the police. They said the two then walked away.

Police say they found the woman at a nearby park. She told police that she and Jones got into an argument, which escalated. She said she went to a liquor store to get away from him, and after leaving the store, she said Jones yelled at her, called her names, and threatened to hit her. The criminal complaint says Jones ran at her, punched her in the face, and then threatened to kill her. She said she ran into the road to get someone’s attention so they would call police.

Police found Jones the next day and allegedly told investigators the two were at Lake George when she became upset with him. According to the criminal complaint, he denied hitting the woman and “was always at least an arm’s length away from her during the argument” and claimed it was possible she got into a fight with another man.

Jones was arrested on Monday and is charged with two counts of felony domestic assault and one count of felony threats of violence.

The criminal complaint says Jones has a previous conviction for domestic assault by strangulation and a conviction for violating a no contact order.

Jones is due back in court on September 3rd.

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