Iron Range legislator's wife charged with domestic assault

Star Tribune - 9/20/2021

DULUTH – State Sen. David Tomassoni's wife has been charged with domestic assault after allegedly hitting him with a broom handle and threatening him with a knife at their Iron Range home over the weekend.

Charlotte A. Tomassoni, 69, was charged with misdemeanor domestic assault and booked into the St. Louis County Jail in Hibbing after the incident early Sunday evening.

According to a police report:

David Tomassoni called police about 6:30 p.m. after Charlotte repeatedly hit him in the chest with a broom handle at their Chisholm home and later "yelled down that if David came upstairs, she would stab him."

Police said she "was slurring her words and appeared to be intoxicated," and she denied the assault.

David Tomassoni, 68, told police that "due to his ALS diagnosis he has lost a lot of his upper body strength and he felt he wouldn't be able to defend himself."

Tomassoni represents the Sixth District, encompassing the Iron Range and parts of rural St. Louis and Itasca counties, and was first elected to the state Senate in 2000. A former DFLer, Tomassoni split with the party in 2020 to become an independent and is president pro tem of the Senate.

He disclosed an ALS diagnosis earlier this year and said he would continue working.

Brooks Johnson • 218-491-6496