Lang
6/19/22
Multiple people…two of them armed…were arrested outside an Iowa City nightclub early Sunday morning.
Iowa City Police responded to a 9-1-1 hang-up at H Bar on South Van Buren Street just after 1:15am. Arriving officers report seeing a male on the ground following an assault. As police were looking for the assailant, one officer noticed 24-year-old Willie Dean III of 20th Avenue Place in Coralville leave the entryway of the bar while avoiding contact with police and gripping a heavy object in his waistline. Dean was captured despite ignoring officers’ commands to stop, and a 9mm Springfield XD pistol loaded with eight rounds with one chambered fell out of his pants. Dean is unable to legally possess a gun due to a previous 1st Degree Robbery conviction as a juvenile. He was arrested and charged with Dominion or Control of a Firearm as a Felon and Public Intoxication. If convicted, he faces a maximum of over five years in prison.
Investigators could also smell marijuana emanating from a vehicle involved in the incident. A blunt was found inside, and 3.5 grams of marijuana was reportedly found in a purse belonging to 27-year-old Brittany Airhart of 21st Avenue Place in Coralville. Airhart was arrested for Possession of Marijuana.
Police were again in the alley next to H Bar just before 2:30am when they reported seeing 27-year-old Jacob Lester of Benton Drive remove a handgun from his waistband and throw it under a parked car. Lester, who police say was intoxicated, has a previous domestic abuse conviction. Once the 9mm handgun was retrieved, Lester was arrested and charged with Dominion or Control of a Firearm as a Domestic Abuser and Public Intoxication. If convicted, he faces a maximum of over five years in prison.
22-year-old Saivon Lester, who lists his address as Hope House in Coralville, ignored police commands to stop as he walked away from the scene. Lester then allegedly began running, and an officer who tackled him to the ground suffered a bruised knee. Lester was arrested and charged with Interference With Official Acts Causing Bodily Injury, a Serious Misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail.