DETROIT LAKES — Angel Daniel Palma, 19, of Minneapolis, has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, felony terroristic threats, and felony domestic assault by strangulation.
According to court records, at about 4:51 a.m. on March 30 Detroit Lakes police were dispatched to the Heights Ridge Apartments in Detroit Lakes on the report of a domestic assault. They were met by a woman, who was holding her 18-month-old daughter. The woman was upset and crying, had blood on her clothing, and was bleeding from a cut on her right thumb. She said that she and Palma were dating and he had been staying with her.
She explained that Palma had wanted a ride back to Minneapolis and she had started to drive him home. However, it was snowing heavily and she decided that the roads were too bad to travel, so they went to the train station so Palma could take the train to Minneapolis.
Once they got to the train station, Palma took her keys and phone and became angry, because he wanted to take her car to go to Minneapolis. She said that he began to choke her, punch her, and slap her. She said that he threatened to throw a weight at her daughter, who was in the car. The woman said that she could not breathe and that she was in fear for her life and her daughter's life.
They returned to the home, the woman told Palma to leave, and he grabbed two knives and threatened to kill her and her daughter if she called the police or her daughter's father.
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The woman said that she brought her daughter upstairs to her crib, and Palma followed her and began punching her. He bit her on her cheek (there was a bite mark visible) and the woman said that he was punching her while he held the knives in each hand. She said that she fell to the ground and he got on top of her, continuing to hit her. She said that she thought she grabbed one of the knives at some point when he was on top of her and he pulled it out of her hand, causing the cut.
The woman said that Palma poked her on the legs with the tip of one of the knives, and there was a visible mark on her leg. After she got cut, Palma got a roll of toilet paper and wrapped her hand. She said that he blamed her for the incident. She told him to leave and went downstairs, but Palma refused, following her downstairs and continuing to argue with her. She said that she went back upstairs and locked herself in her daughter's room, but he followed her and kicked in the door. She then went into her bedroom but he also kicked in that door.
The woman then went into the bathroom with her daughter and got into the bathtub. She said that Palma told her that she better be quiet and that if she called the police he would kill her daughter. He eventually left, and was walking away from the residence when police arrived.
Palma told an officer that he was in an on and off relationship with the woman and he had been staying at her residence since about March 15. He said that they had both been drinking that evening.
On March 31, cash bail for Palma was set at $1,000 or bond at $10,000, with conditions of release, or $50,000 without any conditions. He posted $1,000 bail and was released on March 31.
