Transient with lengthy criminal history arrested again after throwing chair at wet shelter
Lang
2/23/19
A local transient with a lengthy criminal history is back in jail after an incident at the Iowa City wet shelter.
Iowa City Police were called to the shelter on South Clinton Street at 4:20 Saturday morning for two individuals fighting. One of the participants, 50-year-old Gary Leon Duffel II, showed multiple signs of intoxication. Witnesses said Duffel had thrown a chair at another individual, hitting him in the head.
Duffel was arrested and charged with Assault and Public Intoxication.
Duffel has multiple previous Public Intoxication convictions. He made news last year when he was arrested for cutting down the flag outside the Iowa City VFW hall.
In March of 2010 Duffel was arrested for urinating on the front porch of then-Iowa City City Councilor Mike Wright.
Duffel was arrested at The Nickelodeon on the Coralville Strip in January of that year after he took his clothes off and began yelling about his recent release from the Henry County Correctional Facility.
Duffel was convicted on Criminal Mischief charges in 2007 after he toppled the Irving Weber statue at the corner of Iowa Avenue and Linn Street, breaking off the arm and causing an estimated $12,000 in damages.
In 2014 Duffel was arrested after stealing a keg off of a beer truck parked at the Benton Street Delimart.