Hunter
02/20/24
An area transient has been arrested after an incident at the Iowa City Police Department.
35-year-old Joseph Lonier was at the Department’s offices on East Washington Street at around 3am Friday when he allegedly started eating peanut butter that had been donated and meant for hungry kids. He was reportedly observed with bloodshot watery eyes, slurred speech and had the odor of ingested alcohol.
When confronted about taking the peanut butter, Lonier allegedly became confrontational and was arrested for public intoxication. A post arrest breath test showed his BAC at .272 percent.
Lonier was previously arrested in September when he allegedly was intoxicated, walked up behind a woman, and proceeded to place his hand on her rear end. He then reportedly called her a racial slur when her son of the victim confronted him. Lonier ran off, but was called in by at least one person for being belligerent and using racial slurs.
The assault charge was dropped and he received a ten-day suspended sentence along with one year probation.
Lonier faced a 30-day jail sentence if convicted on Friday’s charge, but was given credit for one day time served and fined $105.