Warrant Issued for Man Charged with Strangling Lakeville Woman

A nationwide arrest warrant has been issued for an Eden Prairie man accused of attempting to strangle a woman in Lakeville in July.

Joe Willie Towns, 42, is charged with domestic assault by strangulation, a felony, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. He is also facing two lesser charges of domestic assault.

According to the criminal complaint, Lakeville police were called July 27 to an apartment on Joplin Avenue, where they found a 12-year-old girl in tears. The girl had run across the hall and asked a neighbor to call the police.

The woman who lives in the apartment told police that she had argued with Towns, her on-and-off boyfriend and the girl’s father.

During the argument, Towns squeezed the victim’s throat twice, cutting off her breath, the complaint says. Police said they saw scratches and redness on the victim’s throat.

The victim said that during one of the strangulation attempts, she reached for a knife from the kitchen sink and began swinging it at him. She said she thought she might have stabbed Towns, who then left the apartment.

The girl told police that she saw Towns squeeze her mother’s throat, and when she tried to stop him, Towns hit her, according to the complaint. She said Towns initially chased her when she ran out of the apartment, but gave up his pursuit and drove away in his car.

Police tried to track down Towns through his estranged wife and most recent addresses. He eventually called police and said he couldn’t come in and speak to them because he was on his way to live with his family in Missouri.

Towns admitted arguing with the victim, but said she had grabbed him by the neck first. He told police that he grabbed her neck and pushed her against the refrigerator, but then left the apartment.

Towns e-mailed photos of someone’s scratched neck and chest to police, telling them that they were his injuries.

The victim subsequently called police and left messages, saying that she had instigated the fight on July 27 and that her “recollection had changed,” according to the complaint.