Woman Charged in Alleged Racially Motivated Assault

(KNSI) — The woman accused of a bizarre assault over the weekend in Waite Park has officially been charged.

According to the criminal complaint, at about 3:15 Saturday afternoon, police responded to an apartment on the 200 block of 3rd Street South for a knife complaint. An officer saw 33-year-old Alyssa Holmberg chasing a man and yelling at him. The officer got Holmberg to sit down, but as she was being handcuffed, she began screaming, cursing, and kicking the officer in the knee, knocking her backward. She also threatened to kill two other officers who were at the scene.

The man says he was walking on the sidewalk outside of the building when Holmberg started yelling at him, telling him to move and “go home,” and then threw a jar of salsa at him. The man is Somali.

Someone in the building called 911 to say their mom left to deal with laundry or trash and left the door unlocked when Holmberg walked into their apartment and began screaming at them, threatening to kill them and threw pizza at her before walking out. They said she returned a second time and screamed at them again before leaving. Another family member says Holmberg said she hates Somalis and that she “would be back.” She is also accused of pushing over a baby sitting on the ground before leaving and then coming back, only to push another family member knocking him over.

They were able to lock the door before Holmberg came back a third time and began pounding on the door and trying to get in.

Holmberg has been charged with first-degree felony burglary, felony threats of violence, fourth-degree assault motivated by bias, and assaulting a police officer.

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