MANKATO — Charges against a Mankato man allege he choked a woman with a phone cord in early November.
Jamie Cornillius Hawthorne, 27, was recently charged in Blue Earth County District Court with felonies for assault, false imprisonment, threats of violence and domestic assault by strangulation, along with a gross misdemeanor for interrupting an emergency call.
A criminal complaint states a woman told police she was in downtown Mankato with Hawthorne on Nov. 5. When she couldn’t find cash for food, she reported he put her in a headlock outside a restaurant.
They then got into his vehicle, according to the complaint, and he struck her in the face multiple times. As they drove around, she reported he threatened to kill her and wrapped an iPhone charger around her neck in an attempt to strangle her.
The woman got out of the vehicle and Hawthorne initially drove away, the complaint states, but he drove back and grabbed her phone as she tried to call for help. He eventually brought the woman to the hospital, where she was treated for a cut lip, concussion, bruises and cuts on her face, and a fractured wrist, according to the complaint.
Police reportedly saw apparent blood on the vehicle’s passenger seat. During his arrest, Hawthorne denied striking the woman.