Man faces attempted murder charges after woman’s throat slashed at Union Depot

Police arrested a man for attempted murder after a woman’s throat was slashed at Union Depot on Monday.

A Ramsey County criminal complaint names 36-year-old Ray Anthony Criss as a suspect facing second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault charges for the attack. He was arrested when police executed a search warrant at his St. Paul home on Wednesday.

The complaint states that officers responded to reports of a woman with a severe laceration to the left side of her throat at the Union Depot light rail platform on Monday. Police applied pressure to the injury until medics were able to take her to Regions Hospital. The woman then told police that her boyfriend, Criss, was the man who’d cut her throat after threatening to kill her for weeks. She reportedly told officers he even threatened to kill her in front of police, and that good Samaritans helped save her life by applying pressure to her neck.

Surveillance video showed Criss approach the woman and cut her throat with a knife after getting off a train, according to the complaint. He was seen wearing a baseball cap, a green shirt, a camouflage jacket and black pants. He was also carrying a camouflage cross-body bag.

A security officer gave police a knife that he had recovered from a garbage can inside Union Depot. The complaint also states that surveillance footage showed Criss tossing the knife into the garbage can. The security officer also told police that Criss and the woman were arguing inside Union Depot before the attack.

During the arrest and search, police recovered shoes, a baseball hat, dark pants and a camouflage cross-body bag that appeared to be the items Criss wore during the attack.

While speaking to police, Criss was shown photos and footage of the attack. He said the man looked like him but denied being the man in the photos, according to the complaint. He also said he wasn’t at Union Depot the day of the attack.

His next court hearing is set for June 6.