Shovel assault returns on March court docket

A 48-year-old Cloquet man will appear in District Court in Carlton on March 8, facing a felony assault charge after allegedly striking and harming his girlfriend with a shovel in January.

Daniel Ray Lundquist was arguing with his 45-year-old girlfriend outside 31 18th St. on Jan. 19, when the alleged assault took place. Lundquist was observed by a witness, who told police she saw him “really try to hurt” the woman. The witness described Lundquist in the criminal complaint as having two hands on the shovel and jabbing twice at the woman, striking her on the hand.

Lundquist fled the scene prior to the arrival of authorities, who observed the victim bleeding from her hand, along with trails of blood around the scene. The victim told police Lundquist “whipped” the shovel at her, hitting her hand as she blocked it from striking her face, according to the complaint.

Preceding the alleged assault, Lundquist had been arguing with the woman, calling her names and demanding she speak with him, the complaint said. He left the argument to retrieve the shovel from a van, the woman told police.

Lundquist faces a felony count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, along with a misdemeanor charge of domestic assault for intentionally inflicting harm on another person. The charges come with up to seven years in prison and a $14,000 fine, and 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, respectively.

Lundquist’s public defender, Joanna Wiegert, has requested all video and audio recordings related to the case. A domestic abuse no-contact order issued Feb. 9 to Lundquist and pertaining to the victim was canceled a week later, on Feb. 15.

A warrant for Lundquist was issued after police processed the crime scene Jan. 19. He’d fled in his van after the woman told him she was calling the police.

Lundquist will appear in Sixth District Court in Carlton again for a March 8 omnibus hearing in front of Judge Rebekka Stumme. He last appeared in court for a Feb. 9 first appearance, after which he was released on $2,000 cash bail and the condition he complete assessments requested by County Attorney Lauri Ketola, the prosecutor in the case. Ketola has also requested that the female witness testify in the case should it reach a trial.

Lundquist has a series of drug convictions on his prior record, and a 2022 DWI conviction for driving under the influence of controlled substances. In that case, a judge stayed the jail sentence of up to one year in favor of a year of unsupervised probation, which ended Feb. 3, 2023.