Kole Johnson, Minot, charged with aggravated assault

NIBOT, N.D. – Kole Clayton Johnson, 23, Minot, is accused of putting a woman in a chokehold and causing her to briefly lose consciousness on Oct. 24 at the Sports on Tap bar. He is charged in district court in Minot with Class C felony aggravated assault.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Johnson came up behind the woman and put her in a chokehold. She told him to stop and he did. A short time later he came up behind her again and put her in a chokehold and this time he did not stop even though both the woman and her friend told him to stop. She remembered knocking over some bar stools when she fell and believes she briefly passed out. She then regained consciousness. Surveillance video at the bar confirmed the woman’s story and showed Johnson talking to the woman and putting his right arm around her shoulder. The woman tried to pull away to go back to her friend and Johnson pulled her physically back toward him and transitioned into what the affidavit called a “rear naked choke hold.” Johnson appears to have poor balance on the video and stumbles as he walks backward. The woman is seen pulling at Johnson’s arm with her left hand. Both of them fall backward toward the bar and would have fallen to the floor if a man sitting behind them had not been there to break their fall.

The woman told police that she had been talking with Johnson, an acquaintance, right before he grabbed her and just remembered asking him what he was doing. Johnson told police he was intoxicated that night and didn’t remember much of what he had been doing. Neither the alleged victim nor Johnson spoke about any motivation for the incident.

Johnson made an initial appearance on the charge on Thursday before Judge Richard Hagar. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for June 10.

Kole Johnson, Minot, charged with aggravated assault

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Kole Johnson, Minot, charged with aggravated assault

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