29 August 2024
CARLTON — A Cloquet man allegedly slashed a woman’s neck after accusing her of “snitching” on him.
Toby Ray Smith, 25, is charged in State District Court with three felony counts of assault in the incident last week on the Fond du Lac Reservation.
A criminal complaint says a tribal police officer saw Smith and his romantic partner walking down a reservation road on Aug. 22. After learning Smith had a warrant, the officer attempted to make contact with him but he fled on foot and could not be located.
Shortly before midnight, officers were called to a stolen ATV report near Danielson Road and Jarvi Road. While on scene, they were alerted to a “physical domestic” in the area, with the reporting party showing officers a photo of the woman’s wound.
The complaint says police then met the victim at a nearby residence, finding a neck laceration so deep that it exposed her trachea.
The woman indicated she and Smith had been on an ATV trail when he started tightening a chin strap on her helmet to the point that it interfered with her breathing. He then repeatedly asked why she was snitching on him — an apparent reference to the incident earlier in the day — before pulling out a knife and cutting her neck, the complaint states.
The woman told officers that she fought with Smith and was able to flee into the woods. Police said they located her purse and a helmet on the ATV trail near Jack Pine Drive, as she described.
When Smith was arrested hours later, he reportedly had a cut on his hand and was in possession of a bandana with apparent blood on it.
Smith was arraigned Monday on charges of first- and second-degree assault and domestic assault by strangulation. He also appeared on misdemeanor prescription drug possession and trespassing charges in the case that prompted his arrest warrant.
Judge Amy Lukasavitz set bail at $100,000 and ordered Smith have no contact with the victim.
Court records indicate Smith also pleaded guilty earlier this year to a gross misdemeanor fentanyl possession charge. He was granted a stay of adjudication, which would allow the offense to be dismissed upon successful completion of one year of probation. However, he has already had one violation and now faces possible revocation of the stayed sentence.
Smith is scheduled to appear in court again on Tuesday.
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