ST. PAUL - A University of Minnesota police officer was charged with assault Thursday after allegedly putting his hands on a woman during an altercation during a traffic incident last summer in St. Paul.
Phillip Jack Lombardi, 49, was charged in Ramsey County District Court with two counts of fifth-degree assault and one count of disorderly conduct for the July 8 incident, according to the criminal complaint filed against him.
All three charges are misdemeanors.
A woman was walking in a crosswalk near Smith Avenue and Chestnut Street in St. Paul when a car suddenly turned the corner and nearly struck her, the complaint said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Frustrated, she told officers she kicked the vehicle, leading to a verbal exchange between her and the driver, Lombardi. She said Lombardi then drove a short distance ahead, got out his car, came toward her and “extended one arm toward her neck and grabbed her,” the complaint said.
Lombardi reportedly ran off after a passer-by started yelling at him.
Lombardi has no known criminal record in Minnesota.
The case was investigated by a sergeant with the Dakota County sheriff’s office because the woman is an employee of the city of St. Paul.
