Lang
8/21/20
Iowa City Police have arrested a man with a recent history of aggressive panhandling in connection with an early Friday morning stabbing and robbery of a convenience store clerk with whom he had previous issues.
34-year-old Trell Grant is accused of robbing and stabbing a clerk at Delimart on Lower Muscatine Road just before midnight Friday. Arrest records indicate Grant entered the store, walked behind the counter and quickly and repeatedly stabbed the clerk with a knife until the clerk opened the cash register drawer. Grant then fled the scene with money from the register, leaving his bag behind.
The victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment of multiple stab wounds and required immediate surgery. He is listed in critical condition.
Grant is charged with Attempted Murder and 1st Degree Robbery. He was taken into custody Friday at the Town & Campus Apartments on Arthur Street, where he allegedly admitted to the crime to arresting officers. Surveillance video also captured the attack. Grant switched between telling police he entered Delimart with the intent to stab the clerk and with the intent to rob the store.
Police say Grant has a previous history with the clerk.
Grant is already facing a 2nd Degree Theft charge after allegedly stealing hundreds of packs of cigarettes from that Delimart location during the overnight hours of June 7th and 8th. Arrest records from the case indicate a Delimart clerk was present during the theft, but did nothing to stop it. It is unknown if that clerk is the same one Grant stabbed.
Grant has also been trespassed over a dozen times from businesses on Muscatine Avenue, 1st Avenue and Lower Muscatine Road for aggressively panhandling and banging on car windows asking for money. He skipped a court appearance last month, and was booked into the Johnson County Jail last weekend for Failure to Appear.
If convicted on the Attempted Murder and Robbery charges, Grant faces a maximum of 50 years in prison. The earlier theft charge carries a maximum sentence of five years behind bars.