Brainerd Man Faces Felony Domestic Assault By Strangulation

A 20-year old Brainerd man was charged Friday in Crow Wing County District Court with felony domestic assault, gross misdemeanor of placing a false emergency 911 call and two misdemeanor charges of domestic assault and fifth degree assault to attempt to cause bodily harm, after being accused of strangling a woman with a glass tabletop during an argument.

Desmond Marquis Luther appeared before Judge Earl Maus. The judge posted his bail at $10,000. On December 19 Luther is expected to appear before Judge Erik Askegaard for his Rule 8 hearing where he will be advised on his legal rights and bail as well as other previous conditions may be modified or continued.

According to the probable cause filed against Luther, the Brainerd Police Department received a domestic violence call at 10:20 p.m. on December 7. The reporting party had said that she and Luther had gotten into a physical altercation at a residence where there were other people at the residence who were not supposed to be there.

According to the Brainerd Dispatch when officers arrived on the scene they made contact with the female victim. The victim appeared to have blood on her face, hair and her arms and looked as if she had been crying. There was also some redness and scratches on her neck.

When asked about the blood the victim said it was Luther’s and she suffered a small cut on her finger.

According to court documents the victim stated the argument began after she arrived at the residence at 8:30 p.m.

According to the Brainerd Dispatch during the argument two individuals arrived at the residence. The victim warned that one of the individuals was not welcomed in the residence. The victim then began to call the police. Luther than allegedly took the victim’s phone from her hands and told her not to call the police. According to court documents the victim and Luther began to wrestle on the floor and allegedly Luther slapped her in the face.

Once Luther got the phone he then proceeded to put it on top of a cabinet. The victim used a chair to try and retrieve the phone but Luther pulled the chair out from underneath her twice.

Once the victim did retrieve the phone Luther again took the phone from her hands as she attempted to call 911 according to the complaint. The victim then picked up the glass tabletop from the coffee table that was in the living room and held it against her chest. Luther then grabbed the glass coffee tabletop and pushed her on the couch. He then pushed the glass tabletop against her neck. The glass tabletop eventually broke into pieces on top of both of them, the complaint said.

Luther admitted to authorities that he did take the victim’s cellphone away from her to prevent her from calling the police.