Lang
8/9/20
Displaying a handgun while allegedly intoxicated in public near downtown Iowa City, then allegedly attacking his girlfriend after he was bailed out of jail, has led to multiple charges against a Maryland man.
An Iowa City Police officer reports seeing 31-year-old Veronza Eason of Capitol Heights, a Washington, DC suburb, exiting a white 2016 Honda outside The Chauncey on the 400 block of East College Street just after 2:45am Saturday. The officer said he saw Eason carrying a firearm as he walked.
Eason allegedly showed multiple signs of intoxication, admitted to drinking and admitted to carrying the firearm. Police say he showed significant impairment on field sobriety tests. His blood alcohol content was measured at .228 on a portable Breathalyzer test and .201 on a Datamatser.
Eason is charged with Carrying a Dangerous Weapon While Intoxicated and Operating While Intoxicated. If convicted on both charges, he faces a maximum of two years in prison.
Eason was bailed out of jail at 6:40 Saturday morning. At 4:15 Saturday afternoon, Coralville Police were called to Eason’s hotel room at the Mainstay Suites on Holiday Road for a domestic disturbance. An investigation determined that Eason had attacked a woman with whom he’d had a two-year intimate relationship. Eason allegedly punched the woman in the face, knocking her down. He also allegedly struck the woman in the back of the head, causing a large goose egg at the base of her skull.
Eason now faces an additional charge of Domestic Abuse Assault Causing Injury, a Serious Misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail.