A Vadnais Heights City Council member pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct Thursday following allegations that he became violent and threatening toward a woman he was seeing.
Terry Nyblom entered the plea in Ramsey County District Court in Maplewood, according to court records.
The 53-year-old previously faced charges of disorderly conduct, interfering with a 911 call, misdemeanor-level domestic assault and fifth-degree assault.
The other charges were dropped in accordance with Nyblom’s agreement to plead guilty to the disorderly conduct count, which is a misdemeanor.
Nyblom was taken into custody at his Vadnais Heights home in late April after quarreling with a 53-year-old St. Paul woman in his home, and trying to prevent her from placing a 911 call, according to the Ramsey County sheriff’s office.
After his plea, Nyblom issued a statement maintaining his innocence and disputing many of the charges in the original complaint.
“I did not restrict her 911 call, I did not assault her, I did not threaten to hurt her nor did I ever make reference that the Sheriff won’t do anything to me because I’m a city council member,” he wrote in an email Thursday.
At about 1:30 a.m. on April 30, deputies were called to the home on the 700 block of Hiawatha Avenue in response to a 911 call.
They found the caller “crying, visibly shaking and (having) a hard time speaking because she was so upset,” according to an incident report. The woman stated that she was “involved in a romantic/sexual relationship with Terry Nyblom.”
She went on to tell deputies that Nyblom was “extremely intoxicated” and had been yelling at her to leave the house, according to the report. She said he made verbal threats to kill or injure her, adding that “they’re not going to do anything to me, I’m a city councilman,” the woman alleged.
Then she said Nyblom grabbed her by the collar of her jacket, pulled her up forcefully from her chair and tried to choke her, the report said. Deputies said they found a bruise on her right bicep where the jacket rubbed the skin.
The woman told deputies she tried to call 911 using a landline telephone, but that Nyblom “took it and threw it.” She then placed a 911 call using her cell phone, according to the report.
A deputy who responded to the scene described Nyblom as having bloodshot and watery eyes along with slurred speech, a strong smell of alcohol and difficulty maintaining his balance, according to the report. Nyblom “admitted to consuming a six pack but denied that anything physical happened” with the woman, according to the report.
He declined to take a preliminary breath test.
While he remains a city council member, Nyblom was removed from his position as deputy mayor following the allegations.
“We didn’t want this to distract from the ability of someone to lead our city,” Vadnais Heights Mayor Bob Fletcher said.
Fletcher added that while the city is “disappointed” by Nyblom’s alleged actions, it has no authority to remove him from office.
“It is really up to the voters to decide next year whether this incident offsets the positive things that he has done as a city council member,” Fletcher said.