On Sunday, October 16, the Grand Forks SWAT team responded to a domestic violence incident on Leonard Ave in Crookston, near the junkyard on the south side of town. There was a report of a woman injured and many weapons in the home. One man was taken into custody after the SWAT team arrived and resolved the issue.
Updated: October 18 at 11:45 p.m.
The suspect was identified as 44-year-old Frank Williams Jr. and has been charged with 2nd-Degree Assault and False Imprisonment with Intentional Restraint. According to the Criminal Complaint, a Crookston Police Officer was dispatched to a domestic assault call at a RiverView Hospital. The reporting party said Jane Doe had been beaten badly and had heard messages of Doe telling the defendant to put the gun away. The officer went to the ER and spoke with Doe, who told the officer that she and the defendant had been arguing, and when she went to the defendant’s house and tried to leave when the defendant grabbed and attacked her. The defendant was trying to get her to talk on the phone and pointed a gun at her.
Doe was very emotional, and the officer saw swelling and a bruise on her face. Doe explained that Williams threatened to kill her and himself if she went to the police. In the past, Williams had held the gun to her head, and she was scared that he would escape and attack her. The defendant prevented her from leaving the house and tried to hug her after the assault. The incident happened for about an hour, but she convinced him to let her go to the hospital and come right back, and she wouldn’t call the police.
When she was finally able to leave, she drove herself to the hospital, and that the defendant threatened to shoot and kill police officers if they came to his house, which led to the officer calling the Grand Forks SWAT Team. The SWAT Team executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home, where they recovered a Glock-43 handgun, an AR-15-style assault rifle, a Glock-43X pistol, a Ghost gun that did not have a serial number, and loaded magazines throughout the house. The defendant was present at the search warrant and was transported to the Northwest Regional Corrections Center.
Williams was interviewed on Monday and in a statement, where he denied assaulting Jane Doe, and they had been dating for the last three years and had trust issues recently. He explained he and Doe and been arguing, and he had tried to tell her to leave but admitted giving her a bear hug, and she was very emotional and out of control. He also denied saying he would shoot the cops if they came to his house and felt Doe was setting him up. Williams does have a security system, but it does not record as it is live-feed only.
Williams remains in jail on a cash bail of $20,000.
Videos of the incident by Neil Carlson of iNewZ.TV can be found below-
