Complaint: 'Blood Squirts Everywhere' After Man Punches Woman Holding Toddler

An Oakdale man was convicted of domestic assault by strangulation after he allegedly punched his girlfriend and held a knife to her throat.  

Michael Jay Aune, 34, of Oakdale, was sentenced in Washington County District Court on Friday.  

According to the criminal complaint:

The incident occurred on Feb. 5 at the 6800 block of Grenwich Lane in Oakdale. Aune and his girlfriend live with the girlfriend's grandmother. 

Aune and his girlfriend were arguing in the kitchen when Aune began throwing items at the woman and slapped her in the face. The woman reportedly told Aune he couldn't hit her and then he put a knife to her neck telling her she wasn't allowed to speak.

The knife was a small steak or kitchen knife. The woman went upstairs with their 2-year-old son. Aune followed her and pushed the woman down on the bed face first and pressed her into the mattress with one hand around her throat. The woman told officers that Aune choked her and told her to die.

Aune then took her out of the room and pushed her down the stairs. The woman sat on a chair while holding their son in her lap when Aune punched her in the face, she later reported to officers.

Aune told the woman to go to the hospital after "blood started squirting everwhere." The woman took their son and drove to the fire station and called 911. 

Oakdale Police Officers went to the residence and found bloody towels in the garage and the alleged steak knife in the kitchen. 

The Oakdale Fire Deptartment treated the victim, who was bleeding from her mouth and nose. One of her teeth was also forced through her upper lip and the complaint states the lip was hanging badly. The woman also had cuts on her tongue.

Aune has a previous criminal history, including charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, fifth-degree assault, domestic assault by strangulation, a no contact order violation, tampering with a witness, fleeing a peace officer and interfering with a 911 call.  

In Aune's sentencing, the court stayed the imposition and placed Aune on probation for three years under certain conditions, including serving 79 days in Washington County Jail with credit for 79 days served, comlpying with the Domestic Abuse No Contact Order, completing a 16-week domestic violence program, undergoing a mental health evalution, abstaining from alcohol, providing a biological specimen for DNA analysis and paying $1,000 in fines.