Cortney Lynn Christiansen, 19, of New London, pleaded guilty and was sentenced Thursday on a gross misdemeanor charge of criminal damage to property.
She was sentenced to 120 days in jail, with all of the jail time stayed, a $2,000 fine, with $1,500 stayed, and a year of probation. She was also ordered to attend anger management counseling as deemed necessary by probation and attend victim-offender mediation. Restitution in the case was reserved for 30 days.
As part of a plea agreement, the charge was reduced from a felony and two misdemeanors for not reporting a traffic accident involving an unattended vehicle and for underage consumption of alcohol were dismissed.
The charges were filed after an April 25 incident in New London. Kandiyohi County Sheriff's deputies were called to an apartment along Ash Street after several citizens had witnessed Christiansen crashing her car into the vehicle of a man she formerly had a relationship with.
A woman told deputies Christiansen had come to her apartment looking for the man and got upset that he wasn't there. The woman reported hearing a crash very soon after she left the apartment. Two people in another apartment told deputies they heard a crash, went to the window and saw Christiansen's car back away from the man's car and then smash into it again. They also heard another crash after her vehicle went down the street.
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The first car sustained at least $1,000 in damage from the ramming and from being pushed into a telephone pole. Officers found Christiansen at a nearby home and questioned her. She said she smashed the car on purpose because she was mad at the man. She was arrested and taken to jail. She also told officers she had smashed into another vehicle, but left and went home. She admitted to drinking, but said she consumed only after getting home.
