Lang
12/9/20
Coralville Police have arrested an Iowa City man they say they found in a stolen vehicle which he had spray-painted in an attempt to conceal.
Officers noticed the 2007 Hyundai Sonata parked outside the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics urgent care clinic on Holiday Road just before 9:30 Tuesday morning. The driver was identified as 28-year-old Davonte Coleman of the Town & Campus Apartments on Arthur Street. Police say Coleman was in possession of keys to the vehicle, but the owner didn’t know him and never gave him permission to drive it.
Coleman had spray-painted the entire vehicle black in an apparent attempt to conceal it. Police say he also took off the original license plates and replaced them with a plate stolen from a 2009 Hyundai Sonata that was parked at his apartment complex. A number of items belonging to Coleman, including a can of black spray-paint, were found inside the vehicle.
Coleman also allegedly stole a checkbook out of the car from which he stole the license plate and wrote two checks to himself totaling over $1,500. Police say he deposited the checks into a Hills Bank ATM on Forevergreen Road on October 21st and 22nd and withdrew cash. Coleman allegedly admitted to cashing a check for $960 that had been given to him by someone named “Mikey”.
The stolen car is valued at $10,000, the cost to remove the spray paint is estimated at $4,000 and the cost to replace the license plate on the other car is less than $300.
Coleman was arrested and charged with two counts of 2nd Degree Theft and one count each of 2nd Degree Criminal Mischief, Forgery and 5th Degree Theft. If convicted on all charges, Coleman faces a maximum of over 20 years in prison.