Domestic abuse victim feared for her life

A victim of a domestic assault told police she believed she would have been killed if they didn’t show, according to court documents filed against the man accused of the assault.

The suspect in the assault, Michael Andrew Treague, 32, Pequot Lakes, allegedly assaulted the woman at different times over several days. Treague was charged Friday, April 23, in Crow Wing County District Court, with three felonies — second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, stalking and making threats of violence.

According to the criminal complaint filed against Treague, Brainerd police officers were called at 11:30 a.m. April 21 to the report of yelling and someone possibly being hit in the basement apartment on the 200 block of South Seventh Street in Brainerd. The person who called police reported hearing a female telling a male to stop hitting her and the male was reportedly saying he was trying to harm himself.

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Police made contact with the people at the apartment and the woman was visibly shaking, crying, breathing rapidly, appeared to be close to hyperventilating and appeared to be having a difficult time talking. The woman stated she was assaulted over the past two days by Treague, with whom she is acquainted. She said he punched her in the head multiple times, grabbed and dragged her by her hair, and threatened her with a knife, along with other types of abuse, the complaint stated.

Another officer spoke with Treague, who stated they were only having an argument. He was arrested for domestic assault and transported to Crow Wing County Jail.

Officers continued to talk with the victim who stated two nights earlier on April 19, she met up with Treague in Hinckley and, shortly after meeting him, he became very combative, argumentative and hit her multiple times. A day later they were in Pequot Lakes and he hit and punched her multiple times, specifically in the head, and grabbed her by her hair and dragged her around.

The two went to go look for agates to “calm down” as Treague was extremely upset, the complaint stated. Later that night, he again became visibly upset and began to punch her. Treague then threatened her with a black pocket knife, stating he was going to end her. He then threw the knife down and grabbed her with both of his hands around her neck and pinned her between the bed and the floor. The woman stated she began to lose consciousness and had a difficult time breathing. The woman stated she was strangled by Treague a second time later on that date.

Prior to the 911 call April 21, the woman stated Treague punched her multiple times, threatened to injure her and was very upset. The woman stated Treague wanted her to leave, but she was fearful that if she left, she would be killed. She said if officers had not arrived, she believed she would not have lived through the end of the day because Treague would have killed her, the complaint stated. She said his abusive behavior toward her had been escalating.

Treague remained in custody as of Wednesday, April 28, with his next court hearing scheduled May 20. Bail was set at $75,000 with no conditions or $30,000 with conditions.