Charges: Man dropped large rock off Minnesota 36 overpass, sending it crashing through couple's windshield
When the driver, a 26-year-old woman, pulled over to the side of the highway, just past Rice Street, she realized that her 'right arm was dangling' and that a large rock was in her SUV, according to charges filed against the alleged culprit.
Willie Charles Lassiter Jr., 27, of Minneapolis, was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court with two counts of felony second-degree assault in connection with May 29 incident.
Lassiter is currently in prison for violating terms of probation in a previous Washington County case.
A defense attorney is not listed in Tuesday's case file.
According to the criminal complaint:
A Ramsey County Sheriff's deputy was parked on Rice Street, just north of 36, and saw a man walking north from the east side of the overpass toward a nearby McDonald's restaurant about 10:37 p.m. May 29.
About a minute later, 911 dispatch received a call from a 25-year-old man who said someone had just dropped a rock onto their Ford Escape SUV from the Rice Street Bridge and that his girlfriend's arm was broken.
A Minnesota State Patrol Trooper responded and found the SUV pulled to the side of the road.
The woman said the rock crashed through the windshield, hit her arm and landed on the passenger side floorboard. She was transported to the hospital, where she had surgery to repair her fractured arm.
Meanwhile, the deputy who had seen the man leaving the overpass shortly before the incident caught up with him as he left the McDonald's on Rice Street. The man, who was identified as Lassiter, acknowledged having crossed the overpass, but claimed to have seen two women crossing the other direction at the same time. He was sent on his way.
In a follow-up interview, the woman said that before they approached the bridge from the east, she heard a 'big boom' and then saw the rock in her SUV. She noted that the SUV has a sunroof, where the rock could have fallen through, and added that they easily could have been killed from the incident.
She said that she was going through physical and occupational therapy for her arm injury, and that her boyfriend had suffered cuts to his arms and face.
Police had recovered the rock from the SUV. It was found to match those in a Metro Transit park-and-ride just southeast of 36 and Rice Street.
Surveillance video was recovered that showed Lassiter shoplifting items at a Cub Foods just south of the park-and-ride, the complaint says. At 10:34 p.m., he bent over toward the landscape rocks, appeared to pick something up and walked toward the overpass along the east sidewalk. He disappeared from view.
Just over a minute later, the SUV was seen on video going under the overpass, then braking. No other pedestrians were on the overpass at that time.
An investigator received information that Lassiter was staying with his mother, and called her number. A man who claimed to be Lassiter's brother answered and repeatedly asked what questions the investigator had for Lassiter. The investigator later learned Lassiter does not have a brother.
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Lassiter has an extensive criminal record that dates back to 2014 and includes an April first-degree burglary conviction out of Hennepin County. He was sentenced to a three-year prison term, which was then stayed, and ordered to serve six months in the workhouse, with an April 15 report date. He didn't show up that day, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
In the Washington County case that sent him to prison last week, Lassiter was found passed out behind the wheel in the area of Hastings Avenue and Bailey Road in Newport just before 7 a.m. April 12, 2021. He failed field sobriety tests, but a preliminary breath test did not detect alcohol use. A blood sample later showed the presence of methadone and cocaine, the criminal complaint says.
Lassiter pleaded guilty to DWI and in September 2022 he was given a stayed three-year prison term, six months in the workhouse and five years' probation. A judge revoked the stayed sentence July 23 after Lassiter violated four conditions of his probation, including failing to remain law-abiding, court records show.
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