Lang
8/11/24
A Waterloo man is accused of assaulting his two sons and threatening them with a firearm during a recent visit to Lake Macbride Campground.
41-year-old Matthew Potter was booked into the Johnson County Jail just after 10:15 Saturday morning. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says Potter was camping with his two adult sons, who are intellectually disabled, at the campground on the afternoon of July 20th. The reporting party claimed Potter has assaulted one of her sons and pulled a gun on the other when he tried to intervene. The two sons told investigators Potter had yanked one of them off his bicycle and pulled him into the camper, where he began beating him. The other son heard his brother screaming, but Potter’s wife, identified as Samantha Potter, briefly blocked the son from entering the camper. The other son eventually made it inside and pulled his father off his brother, but Matthew Potter reportedly responded by pulling out a gun and aiming it at the intervening son, placing a pillow between the son and the firearm.
Neighboring campers and Potter himself corroborated that there was an argument, with Potter allegedly admitting to “smacking” his son. The son who was reportedly assaulted showed signs of bruising on his back.
The two sons live with the Potters part-time.
Matthew Potter is charged with Domestic Abuse Assault Using a Weapon and Domestic Abuse Assault Causing Injury. If convicted on both charges, he faces a maximum of four years in jail