Apple Valley Man Allegedly Punches Woman at Burnsville Bar

An Apple Valley man has been charged with domestic assault after police say he punched a woman in the back of the neck at a Burnsville bar last weekend.

Dwight McGriff, 30, faces a felony charge of domestic assault, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

He was arrested Friday and remained in the Dakota County Jail Wednesday on a $65,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Aug. 29 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.

According to the criminal complaint, Burnsville police were called to a bar in the 14000 block of Irving Avenue South in Burnsville early Friday to investigate a reported assault.

The woman told police that she was at the bar with McGriff that evening when he approached her and told her not to talk to his “baby mama,” who he said was also at the bar.

The woman said she didn’t know that McGriff had a child with anyone else, or that he was involved with anyone else.

That second woman approached McGriff's companion during the evening and asked why she was talking to McGriff. The woman said that she had been involved with McGriff for several months, at which point McGriff punched the her in the back of the neck, according to the complaint.

A witness working at the bar told police that he saw the punch and saw the woman pitch forward after she was hit, the complaint says.

McGriff was convicted of domestic violence offenses in 2002 and 2008, Minnesota court records show.