Charges: Northfield Woman Hits Boyfriend With Car

A Northfield woman faces seven years in prison for allegedly hitting her boyfriend with a car.

Nicole Louise Johnson, 22, made her first appearance in Rice County District Court on Thursday. She faces three assault charges, one of which is a felony.

According to a criminal complaint filed with the court, Johnson on Wednesday was arguing with her boyfriend in her car, which was parked in the Community Action Center of Northfield parking lot. Johnson’s 4-year-old child was in the backseat of the vehicle.

The man told police that Johnson was upset because he wouldn’t tell her who he was talking to on the phone. She punched and scratched him several times, charges say, before throwing his phone out the car window. The man held his arms up in defense, but never struck Johnson, he told police.

The boyfriend got out of the vehicle and walked away, he told police, and heard the car’s engine revving. The complaint says the man was struck in the knee, buckling his body over on the hood of the car. He walked away and put another vehicle between him and Johnson’s car, the complaint says. A witness corroborated the boyfriend’s account, police said.

Staff from the Northfield Hospital emergency room notified police after the man went to seek treatment. The man’s face had several scratches and bruises, according to the complaint.

When questioned by police later at her apartment, Johnson told police she was in a fight with her boyfriend and said he had struck back, showing them a bruised area on her lower abdomen and scratches on her wrist and arm.

Her next court appearance is April 27.