Update: Man Charged in Alleged Assault, Chase with Knife

Prosecutors charged a Minneapolis man Wednesday with assault, burglary and making threats at a house in the 1600 block of 68th Avenue NE.

Natchez Joseph Franklin was in Anoka County Jail Wednesday, facing a single count each of second-degree assault, first-degree burglary and making terroristic threats.

The alleged crimes took place Tuesday at about 11 a.m. at the , according to the criminal complaint: 

Upon arrival, officers spoke with [alleged female victim], who told officers that she had been at her residence at the above address with her children and a friend, [alleged male victim]. [Alleged female victim] reported that she was upstairs in the bedroom watching TV with [alleged male victim] when her estranged spouse [Franklin], the defendant, entered the home without permission, and came upstairs. [Alleged female victim] stated that the defendant began to pound on the door, and eventually broke the door and entered the bedroom. [Alleged female victim] indicated that the defendant was enraged upon finding her and [alleged male victim], and punched her in the face. The defendant then left the room, but returned a short time later with a large kitchen knife, and was threatening to kill [alleged female and male victims]. [Alleged female victim] told officers that the defendant then began to chase [alleged male victim] with the knife, eventually chasing him downstairs and out into the street.

The alleged male victim gave police the same account, the complaint says, as did the alleged female victim's 13-year-old son, who said he saw his father, the defendant, chasing the alleged male victim with a large knife.

Police took into evidence a "large silver knife which the parties identified as the one the defendant used in the assault," according to the complaint.

Franklin has been convicted for disorderly conduct three times since 2003, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.