A 48-year-old man was charged Tuesday with being the well-dressed stranger who ambushed and stabbed a woman with a hunting knife as she was returning to her car in a downtown Minneapolis parking ramp one afternoon last week.
Robert J. Meyers, of Minneapolis, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with first-degree assault and attempted kidnaping.
Meyers' arrest followed his involvement in a third troubling incident downtown within a matter of hours, police said.
His 28-year-old victim survived the attack about 4 p.m. Thursday in the ramp at 800 Marquette Av. with a punctured liver and numerous defensive injuries to her hands. Her attacker was described by police as wearing a dark suit, blue shirt and carrying a black bag with a shoulder strap.
According to the criminal complaint:
In an interview with police the next day from the hospital, the woman said that Meyers came up from behind her as she placed items on the seat and put a hunting knife to her throat.
Meyers, his hand over her mouth, said they were going for a ride. But the woman bit his finger and kicked him. Meyers gave up and told the woman that she was lucky that she was a fighter.
The woman called 911 and then went down the ramp for help once she realized she was bleeding, collapsing as she approached the ramp's pay booth.