Man accused of strangling woman outside Woodbury's Central Park

A man with a long history of domestic-related crimes is accused of beating and strangling his girlfriend last week in Woodbury.

Washington County prosecutors charged Giovanni Edunjobi, 22, with one count of felony domestic assault and one count of domestic assault by strangulation.

The charges are the latest for the St. Paul man, who has a string of convictions ranging from violating domestic-abuse no contact orders to domestic assault, stretching back to 2009.

According to a criminal complaint:

A woman called police at 12:32 p.m. May 16 from the Woodbury YMCA to report an assault. Officers arrived to find her with fresh injuries on her neck, chest and head.

The woman said she drove to Central Park to get a job application. Before she went in, Edunjobi began arguing with her about clothing left at a residence. The argument escalated and the woman, whose daughter remained inside the vehicle with Edunjobi, went inside Central Park.

When she returned, Edunjobi continued to argue with her, so she got out of the vehicle and approached the passenger side of the vehicle, where she ordered him out.

Once Edunjobi got out of the vehicle, he punched her in the face. He then grabbed her by the throat and began choking her, to the point where she was unable to breathe.

“I tried to get him off my neck,” the woman told police, adding that she attempted to scratch at Edunjobi while he choked her. “I could not breathe.”

Eventually Edunjobi let go and walked off. The woman then went to the YMCA, where she called authorities.

Police located Edunjobi walking on Valley Creek Road and Century Avenue. He denied the assault, claiming he was at a friend’s house. Police found scratch marks on his face consistent with the woman’s report.

Edunjobi had an active domestic abuse no contact order against him at the time. At the time, he also had two pending cases in Washington County related to the no-contact order.

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