Sartell Man Pleads Guilty in Gunpoint Case that Ended with a Third-Floor Window Jump

(KNSI) – A Sartell man has pleaded guilty to threats of violence after allegedly holding a woman against her will and jumping from a third-story window while trying to get away from police earlier this year.

Aaron Wright pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of threats of violence in Stearns County District Court. The plea came on the day his jury trial was set to begin. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 6th.

According to the criminal complaint, around 12:45 a.m. on February 13th, Sartell police responded to an apartment complex in the 400 block of 7th Street North on a report of a gun. While officers were en route, they learned the call came from a man who said a woman had texted him that she was being held against her will at gunpoint by Wright, that he had assaulted her and threatened to shoot her if she tried to leave. A Lyft driver also called police to say he was at the apartment to pick up the woman and had received a similar message.

Court documents say officers from multiple agencies arrived to find Wright and the woman in the entryway. She ran to safety. When they ordered Wright to surrender, he refused and went back inside. He then jumped from his third-story window in an attempt to flee but was quickly caught. Wright was treated for minor injuries and booked into the Stearns County Jail.

A search warrant was executed at the apartment, and no gun was found.
The woman told police she had broken up with her boyfriend in Arizona and had flown to Minnesota to meet Wright, with whom she had a prior relationship. She said he had been drinking heavily and that she sent a text to her ex to express her concerns. Wright became upset when he found the message.

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