Charges: Man attempted to carjack woman in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood, bit officer's leg
A St. Paul man is accused of blocking a woman in with a minivan and hitting her driver's side window in a frightening carjacking attempt thwarted by the victim's roommate.
Christopher S. Sinclair, 42, was charged in Hennepin County District Court Thursday with felony simple robbery and fourth-degree assault of a peace officer. Prosecutors allege he attempted to carjack a woman outside of her apartment building in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood Tuesday then, while being taken into custody, biting a police officer's leg.
According to the charges:
The victim, a woman, told police she was walking out to her car on the 3400 block of Colfax Avenue South when a minivan pulled up and blocked her from driving away. A man, later identified as Sinclair, then jumped out and started banging on her driver's side window, demanding she get out of the car.
He yelled this about 15 times, she said, while continuing to hit her vehicle.
She warned him there were cameras around, which caused him to briefly walk away — allowing the victim time to call her roommate.
But Sinclair quickly returned, this time holding what appeared to be a wire behind his back. The woman said she was scared he was going to use it to tie her up or kidnap her.
That's when her roommate jumped in, fending off Sinclair and helping the victim get back to safety in the apartment building, where they watched Sinclair from afar.
Officers arrived and found him in the alley. He told them the minivan belonged to him and was a rental. Officers said they were going to arrest him for attempted carjacking, at which point he became "combative," collapsing to the ground and refusing to stand.
As officers tried to arrest him, he bit one of the officer's on the leg, "causing a red mark with teeth indentations."
Sinclair was ultimately arrested and booked into Hennepin County Jail just after 7:20 p.m. Tuesday. His first court appearance is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
