Hunter
07/23/23
An Iowa City man was arrested on warrants for an alleged assault and witness tampering.
21-year-old Latrell Sasseen was reportedly working as security at the Roxxy Bar on East College Street the evening of June 24th when a patron tried to get in with a fake ID. After being denied entry, the man snatched the ID out of Sasseen’s hand and began walking away. He was roughly 20 feet away from the door when Sasseen allegedly got off his stool and went after the victim.
Sasseen reportedly pushed the victim from behind, forcing him face first into the Ped Mall bricks. After sliding to a stop, the man left the scene and later went to a hospital. He suffered multiple stitches to his eyebrow and had road rash around his eye and cheek.
Two friends of the victim told police that Sasseen’s attack was unprovoked. Sasseen allegedly admitted to pushing the victim but said he fell due to his level of intoxication. He also said he had been punched in the doorway by the victim, but there was no evidence to support his claim.
The next day a witness to the incident contacted police and changed their story. The witness was questioned about their narrative because the evidence didn’t match up, and reportedly said there was evidence on social media. A search warrant was executed on a social media account, and authorities allegedly found messages from Sasseen asking the witness to tell police a different story, and the witness telling Sasseen how uncomfortable that made them.
Warrants were issued for Sasseen’s arrest on July 10th and 11th; he was taken into custody Friday and charged with Assault causing Bodily Injury and Tampering with a Witness. If convicted on those charges, Sasseen could be sentenced to up to three years in jail.