Sartell Man Under Arrest for Beating and Threatening Woman

(KNSI) – A Sartell man is under arrest after police say he assaulted a woman at her apartment.

The criminal complaint says a woman called police from her neighbor’s home to say 33-year-old Jon Paul Weidenbach had come to her apartment and accused her of cheating on him. She said Weidenbach forced her down on her couch and hit her on her head, tried to bite her in the face, and choked her. When she asked him to let her go, she says he slammed her head into the armrest of the couch. She was able to get up and get to the bathroom, but she says Weidenbach followed her and continued to accuse her of cheating and wouldn’t let her out until he got “the truth.” She says he grabbed her neck and hit her head against the wall, then said he would have her killed if she told anyone. She said he then called someone and discussed having her killed. The criminal complaint says he threatened to hold her captive because she did not deserve to live after what she did to him. She says she persuaded Weidenbach to let her go outside to smoke a cigarette, and she went to a neighbor’s place for help.

The woman told police she believed Weidenbach had used methamphetamine earlier in the day. When police found Weidenbach, they say he was holding a glass pipe.

In a Mirandized statement, he told police two armed men came to the woman’s apartment and held him and the woman hostage because they owed $5,000 for methamphetamine. He told police that one of the men grabbed the woman by the arm and took her out of the apartment before they got there. He said the other one threatened to kill him if he left. According to the criminal complaint, he denied hitting the woman and said her injuries were at the hands of the two men, and he was very fearful.

Weidenbach has been charged with felony threats of violence, domestic assault by strangulation, and two counts of misdemeanor domestic assault. Bail was set at $100,000 without conditions—$ 50,000 with. Weidenbach is due back in court on September 21st.

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