Warrant Issued for Eagan Man Accused of Strangling Woman, Slamming Boy Against Wall

A nationwide arrest warrant has been issued for an Eagan man charged with threatening to kill his girlfriend, attempting to strangle her and slamming her 7-year-old son against the wall.

Elliott Hammons III, 28, faces four felony charges: stalking, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine; and making terroristic threats, domestic assault and malicious punishment of a child, each of which has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, Hammons’ relationship with the victim shows a pattern of the woman seeking protection orders against him, then asking to have those orders withdrawn, beginning in 2008 and continuing through Hammons’ latest attack last month.

On Sept. 6, the victim called 911 from a gas station in Eagan and reported that Hammons had attacked her. She told police she had her 7-year-old son and 11-month-old daughter – whose father is Hammons – with her, and police said she was “visibly shaken and crying.”

The victim said Hammons had been at her home that morning, but left when she went to work and took her children to day care.

When she got home, she was talking to her mother on the phone in an upstairs bedroom when Hammons, apparently angry that they were talking about him, suddenly came into the room and grabbed her by the throat, according to the complaint.

Hammons pushed the victim onto the bed and grabbed her face and eye, the complaint says. She was able to grab her phone and try to call 911; Hammons told her she wasn’t calling anyone, and threatened to break her neck and “[expletive] her up,” according to the complaint.

Hammons told the victim to put the children in the car, and began throwing items around the house, the victim said. He went into her son’s room and told him to pack his belongings and get into his mother’s car; when the boy appeared to be pretending to be asleep, Hammons picked him up, slammed him against the wall, then began shaking him and calling him names, the complaint says.

The victim put her daughter into the car and then went back inside for her son, at which point Hammons turned on the garbage disposal “and told her she was not going to be calling anyone if she didn’t have a hand to do so,” according to the complaint.

Hammons grabbed the victim by the hand and began pulling her toward the sink where the disposal was running, the victim said. She pulled away, got her son and put him in the car; Hammons came out to the car, but when he went back inside, the victim drove away with the children, with Hammons running after her, shouting that he still had her phone, according to the complaint.

The victim and her children were taken to a safe house.

The victim initially sought a protection order against Hammons in late April 2008; the order was granted, and he was charged with violating it in early May. The victim asked a few weeks later that the order be dismissed.

In October 2009, the victim came to the Burnsville police station “crying and shaking,” telling police that Hammons had awakened her by pulling her hair, upset because his car wouldn’t start. The victim said he dragged her out of bed, got on top of her, put his hands around her neck and squeezed so she couldn’t breathe.

When he let her up, she went outside to help him with his car, where he threatened to “bash her skull” and kill her, the victim told police. She said she followed him to a gas station, bought gasoline for his car and then went to the police station; while she was at the police station, she said, Hammons broke into her home and damaged her property.

The protection order was granted, but the victim asked a judge to dismiss it in December, saying in an affidavit, “I no longer fear for my safety. I do not feel Elliott is to harm me.” That request was denied.

Hammons was subsequently convicted of violating a protection order and making terroristic threats. In March 2010, the victim again asked that the protection order be dismissed, saying in an affidavit, “I have no fear of my safety from Elliott. I am not scared he will hurt me. Elliott needs to be able to be involved in his child’s life. I know Elliott will not hurt me.”

A judge dismissed the order.

The victim gave birth to her daughter on Oct. 12, 2010. On March 29, she sought a protection order against Hammons, telling the court that Hammons “continues to be verbally abusive and threatening,” that he abused her in front of the children and that he was threatening to take the baby away from her.

On April 6, the victim asked that the latest protection order be dismissed. A judge granted her request.

Hammons’ whereabouts are unknown. Anyone with information on him is asked to contact local police.