Hunter
12/01/20
The charges against an Iowa City man who is accused of breaking into a church and stealing a truck continue to pile up.
Police have now charged 31-year old Michael Welker with two burglary charges and one theft charge from incidents earlier this year.
According to the latest arrest reports, Welker entered the Plaza Towers parking garage on East College Street the evening of March 24th, driving a stolen Chevy Tahoe. He’s allegedly seen on video parking the Tahoe, taking a shopping cart containing various items that didn’t belong to him, and leaving on foot.
On April 1st, Welker is seen on video entering Formosa, which was closed at the time, stealing two tablets, and leaving on foot.
Previous incidents involving Welker include burglarizing an apartment building in the 100 block of South Dubuque Street in early April. Police located him on the top of the building and he allegedly had a backpack with a number of stolen items. While being arrested for his involvement in the burglary, he would only identify himself as “the Messiah.”
In early November, he is accused of stealing a pickup truck from the Iowa City American Legion. The next day he was discovered inside the Church of the Nazarene with an ID of the owner of the truck and items from the church. A search of records showed that Welker was wanted for not returning to Hope House in July.
Welker was served warrants on the parking garage and Formosa incidents while in custody. He was charged with 2nd degree Theft, and two counts of 3rd degree burglary. With the total list of charges shown on the county jail website, he could be sentenced to over 60 years in prison.