Lang
1/19/20
Attacking and biting a security guard at the Old Capitol Town Center, including throwing a chair at him, has led to the arrest of a local homeless man.
Iowa City Police responded to the mall at 11:30 Saturday morning for a male assaulting a security guard. Arriving officers found the guard and another subject holding down the suspect, identified as 41-year-old transient Rickie Roberts.
The guard told investigators that Roberts entered the mall screaming, yelling, and being disorderly. When the guard told Roberts to calm down and stop yelling, Roberts allegedly responded by pushing the guard, throwing a chair at him, and punching him in the side of the head.
The guard then tackled Roberts to the ground to hold him for police, but Roberts allegedly bit the guard’s hand, causing pain and a small cut.
Roberts refused to comment on the situation, and several witnesses corroborated the guard’s story.
Roberts was arrested and charged with Assault Causing Bodily Injury, a Serious Misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail.
