An unknown suspect jumped on the hood of a University student’s car Dec. 4 after the student prevented the woman from cutting in front of her.
Rachel Lee Mann-Orosz, 20, said she was waiting to turn left from Como Avenue Southeast onto 15th Avenue Southeast when the woman tried to cut in front of her. Mann-Orosz pulled to the right to prevent the woman from cutting her off and blocking other cars.
The woman then darted into traffic to follow Mann-Orosz.
“For some reason she began trailing me,” Mann-Orosz said.
While waiting at a stoplight to turn left from 15th Avenue Southeast on to 5th Avenue Southeast, the suspect rolled down her window and began yelling at Mann-Orosz.
At a red light on Fifth Avenue Southeast, the woman pulled her car in front of Mann-Orosz’s to prevent her from crossing the intersection.
The suspect then jumped on the hood of Mann-Orosz’s car and yelled at her.
When the light turned green, Mann-Orosz pulled through the intersection with the suspect still on her car to let traffic pass.
The woman sat on Mann-Orosz’s hood for approximately five minutes, but finally removed herself.
“I was just thinking this woman is crazy and has severe road rage,” said Mann-Orosz. “It felt like a dream.”
Mann-Orosz drove around the block, then returned to the scene to get the woman’s license plate number.
Mann-Orosz reported the incident to University police. The police officer told her she would call the suspect and inform her that the incident had been reported.
The only crime the woman could be charged with is disorderly conduct, said University police Capt. Steve Johnson. Because the police did not witness the incident, the victim would have to make a citizen’s arrest.
In other police news:
Phillip Eugene Demry, a 47-year- old St. Paul resident, was charged Dec. 4 with making terroristic threats.
According to the criminal complaint, Demry and a 41-year-old Minneapolis man were smoking crack in an apartment located on the 300 block of University Avenue Southeast.
The victim was sitting on the couch when Demry allegedly pointed a gun at his face. Demry said he was going to “kill you nigger.”
Demry then allegedly poked the victim in the back of the head with the gun and rubbed the barrel of the gun across his throat.
The victim told police Demry pushed him out of the apartment and pointed the gun at him. The victim heard three shots fired but did not know if they were fired at him.
Minneapolis police were called to the scene, and Demry was booked in Hennepin County Jail for second-degree assault.
Demry was accused of threatening “to commit a crime of violence with the purpose of terrorizing another.”
He remained in custody as of 8 p.m. Tuesday. Demry’s bail is set at $15,000, and he is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 18.
ïJanerio Deon Taylor was charged Dec. 6 for attempted robbery of a woman on her way to work.
According to the complaint:
Taylor attempted to steal the woman’s purse at approximately 5:40 a.m. Dec. 5 on the 2100 block of Riverside Avenue South.
Taylor struck the victim from behind, causing her to fall to the pavement. He then pulled on her purse strap, and the woman threatened to call the police.
Taylor let go, but began following the victim. She called the police on her cell phone and Taylor ran away.
University Police arrested Taylor a short time later and the victim identified him.
Taylor was released from custody Dec. 7.
Joanna Dornfeld welcomes comments at [email protected]