The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

September 2, 2012

Parking lot incident brings assault charges

By Dan Nienaber Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — Felony assault charges have been filed against a Minnesota State University student who allegedly clipped an apartment complex security guard with his car.

Police were called to the complex near the intersection of Briargate Road and Monks Avenue at about 1:50 a.m. Aug. 24. A security guard there reported he had hit a car’s windshield with his flashlight as it sped toward him in a parking lot.

The guard said he was patrolling the complex on foot when he saw a Volkswagen Jetta speeding through the parking lot. After the car was parked nearby, the guard walked toward it to tell the driver to slow down, according to a criminal complaint filed last week. The driver drove to the other side of the parking lot before the guard could reach him.

When he started walking toward the car again, the driver drove directly at him, the guard reported. He said he used the flashlight to see the driver’s face and make sure the driver knew he was there. The driver only grinned and kept driving toward the guard, the complaint said.

The guard told police he used his hand to push himself away from the car as it clipped him. In the process, the guard said he likely broke the car’s windshield with the flashlight. The guard used that damage to identify the car in the parking lot the following day.

Officers later learned that 20-year-old Miller Winston Crawford, who lives in the apartment complex, had called management there the day after the incident to report a security guard had broken his car window the night before. When Crawford was questioned by an officer, he said he wanted to talk to an attorney before he talked to the officer.

Crawford was arrested and charged with felony second-degree assault and gross misdemeanor charges of criminal vehicular operation.

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