Man Charged with Beating, Strangling Rosemount Woman

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A Chisago City man has been charged with seriously beating and choking a Rosemount woman after they argued about the woman’s new boyfriend.

Samuel Bennett Achman, 35, is charged with two felony counts of domestic assault, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He is also charged with felony domestic assault by strangulation, which has a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine; and fourth-degree criminal damage to property, for which the maximum penalty is 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. 

According to the criminal complaint, Rosemount police were called to a home on Upper 149th Street West just after 12:30 p.m. Sept. 8 to investigate a reported domestic assault. 

They were met by the victim, who told them that Achman, her ex-boyfriend, had assaulted her in a car and at her home, where he threw her on the bed and choked her to the point where she couldn’t breathe.

The woman told police that she and Achman had dated for about a year and broke up about two months ago. She said Achman wanted to talk to her about a man whom she was seeing, so they went to a Rosemount restaurant.

During their discussion, the woman said, Achman became very upset and wouldn’t eat any of his food. When they left, he was still very angry, and at one point while he was driving her home, Achman grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head against the passenger window, she told police.

Achman also hit the victim repeatedly in her face and head, and threatened to take her to an open field and “beat the [expletive] out of her,” according to the complaint.

When they returned to the victim’s home, Achman followed her inside and continued hitting her in the head and stomach, she told police. She tried to fight him off, scratching him on the neck, but he continued yelling and threw a small fan and water bottle at the victim before throwing her onto a bed, she said.

Achman squeezed the victim’s throat until she couldn’t breathe, according to the complaint. She told police that she tried unsuccessfully to scream.

Achman let go of the victim and left, keying her car on his way out, according to the complaint.

Police tracked down Achman and arrested him. He told them that he had argued with the victim, but denied that it had become physical.

Achman’s criminal history includes a 2009 conviction for domestic assault, a 2010 conviction for harassment and a 2010 conviction for failing to register as a predatory offender. Hennepin County authorities issued an arrest warrant Sept. 11 charging him with violating probation on a 2010 conviction for felony fifth-degree assault.

As of Monday, Achman remains in the Dakota County Jail on a $100,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Oct. 9 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.