Man ‘flipped out’ over cheating allegations, charges say

BRAINERD, Minn. - A Brainerd man charged with attempted murder for allegedly choking a woman told police he “flipped out” over allegations of cheating, according to a criminal complaint.
Steven James Machell, 24, is accused of choking the woman two times in her Brainerd apartment - once with a wooden stick to the point where she couldn’t breathe.
Machell was charged this week in Crow Wing District Court with second-degree attempted murder, which carries a 40-year maximum prison sentence; and two felonies of domestic assault by strangulation and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
Brainerd police responded Friday to a report of a domestic assault. The woman, who had fled the scene, reported that she and the suspect live together. She told police she had broken off their relationship about a month ago but allowed Machell to live in the apartment.