Man tries running over woman after their first date goes awry, Minnesota cops say
When a first date went awry in Minnesota, a woman exited her date’s car and had to avoid being run over by him two times, authorities say.
Alexander Dennis Jr. drove from Indiana on Oct. 21 to go on a date with the woman, who he had been chatting with on Facebook, according to a statement of probable cause.
They went to a bar in the town of Virginia for their date, but for unknown reasons, the man “began to get upset,” police said.
The woman later told authorities Dennis was supposed to drive her to her house next. Instead, he drove past her home and went to a store, according to the complaint.
When she tried to leave the man’s car, she “grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her back into the vehicle,” police said.
She finally managed to leave the vehicle, according to police, but her nightmare was far from over.
Police said she walked onto a curb near the store, at which point Dennis drove his Audi over a curb toward the woman. She avoided being hit, but Dennis tried swerving his vehicle at her a second time, according to the investigators.
She called a friend to report the encounter and the friend called 911, as did the victim, who told authorities she was being followed by Dennis, police said.
Officers found Dennis’s vehicle, and he fled “at a high rate of speed” reaching more than 80 mph, police said. They later found his vehicle abandoned, discovering that it was stolen from Indiana.
Dennis, of Chicago Heights, Illinois, was arrested while walking in a Target parking lot, according to the complaint. He denied knowing why he was being detained.
According to the complaint, Dennis was charged Oct. 23 with second-degree assault, fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle and receiving stolen property.
Virginia, Minnesota, is about a 200-mile drive northeast from Minneapolis.
This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Man tries running over woman after their first date goes awry, Minnesota cops say."