Man Charged with Punching Eagan Woman Repeatedly in Head, Face

A Minneapolis man has been charged with assault after police say he punched an Eagan woman repeatedly in the face after accusing her of causing him to get sick.

Percy Lee Strothers Jr., 39, faces a felony charge of third-degree assault in the Oct. 17 incident. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. 

Strothers is also charged with two misdemeanor counts of violating a domestic abuse no-contact order, each of which has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

He remained in the Dakota County Jail Saturday on an $80,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Nov. 7 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.

According to the criminal complaint, Eagan police were called to an Eagan home just after 1 a.m. Oct. 17 after Ramsey County authorities said they had received a 911 call from a woman who whispered “Help” into the phone, then hung up. 

Eagan police found the victim crying, covering her face and holding her right eye, which was discolored and beginning to swell, the complaint says. The victim also had a bloody nose and a number of lumps on her head, police said.

The woman told police that she had recently been ill, but felt well enough to visit a neighbor’s home, where she had a few drinks. She said that when she arrived home, Strothers confronted her and accused her of causing him to become ill.

Strothers began calling the victim names; when she told him to shut up, he replied, “[Expletive] you, [expletive],” and she slapped him, according to the complaint.

Strothers then punched the victim between 10 and 15 times in her face, head and neck, and threw her to the ground, the complaint says. She told police that she asked Strothers for a tissue; he handed her one and asked why “she made him do this,” according to the complaint.

The victim used the tissue to help her nosebleed and wipe blood off the kitchen floor, and called 911 after Strothers walked away, she said. He left shortly afterward.

Police stopped Strothers’ car and found him with dried blood on both hands. He told officers that his hands got bloody when he was “messing around” with his sister in the car.

After Strothers’ arrest, a judge ordered him to have no contact with the victim. However, according to Dakota County Jail call logs, he called her twice early on the morning of Oct. 18.

During the first call, the victim confronted Strothers about the assault, and he apologized, according to records. In the second call, Strothers apologized to the victim, telling her that he had hit her only once or twice; he also accused her of calling police “to get attention and to get him in trouble,” according to the complaint.

The victim suffered a fracture of one of the bones around her right eye, and a bone fragment in her nose was also injured, according to doctors.