12 October 2023
Prosecutors have dismissed a felony case against an Amazon driver who claimed self-defense after punching a St. Paul homeowner in a dispute over whether a package had been delivered.
Tre’Von Marquise King, 26, faced a third-degree assault charge in the March 25 encounter in the 900 block of Randolph Avenue that left a 51-year-old man hospitalized with a fractured skull and broken bones around his eye.
King, of Minneapolis, told police he defended himself after the man “smacked” his phone from his hand. He said the man then stepped toward him and “flinched” at him, and that he punched the man’s face once with a closed fist, according to the criminal complaint.
The charge was dropped Monday “in the interests of justice,” a court filing says.
Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the Ramsey County attorney’s office, said Thursday that after reviewing “evidence provided by law enforcement and after consulting with the victim in this case and considering their perspectives, we concluded that this case should be dismissed.”
King’s attorney, Joseph Vaccaro, said his client had a “very strong self-defense claim.”
“The prosecutor didn’t tell me why he dismissed (the case) in the interests of justice, but I believe the evidence would have shown that we would have likely prevailed on a self-defense claim at trial,” Vaccaro said.
According to the complaint, the man’s wife told police they were waiting for an Amazon delivery and that her husband went outside and got into an argument with the driver, later identified as King. She said both men recorded each other on their phones before King punched her husband, and then left.
The man said he received a notification that a package had been delivered to his back steps, but it was not there. After seeing an Amazon truck, he asked King about his package, but the driver was short with his words and “lacked professionalism,” the complaint said.
After he leaned against the truck, King got out and punched him once, he told police. The man said he didn’t recall anything else because he thought he lost consciousness.
Video surveillance from the delivery truck caught the incident and shows both men recording each other with their phones and the man trying to hit King’s phone from his hand. The man “advanced” toward King, who then punched his face, the complaint said.
Court records only show petty misdemeanor driving offenses for King.
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