Transient with lengthy criminal history accused of assaulting fellow Johnson County Jail inmate

Lang
11/27/24

A transient with a lengthy criminal history is now accused of assaulting a fellow inmate at the Johnson County Jail.

Jailers say 56-year-old Gary Leon Duffel II was involved in a physical altercation at the jail just before 5:30 Tuesday night. Video reportedly shows Duffel throwing a punch. The alleged victim said Duffel punched him in the face and pushed him.

Duffel is charged with Assault. If convicted, he faces an additional 30 days in jail.

Duffel has numerous previous arrests over the years, including for cutting down the flag outside the Iowa City VFW hall, urinating on the front porch of then-Iowa City City Councilor Mike Wright, taking his clothes off inside The Nickelodeon in Coralville while yelling about his release from the Henry County Correctional Facility, toppling and breaking the Irving Weber statue at the corner of Iowa Avenue and Linn Street, and stealing a keg off a beer truck parked at the former Benton Street Delimart. In June of 2022 Duffel was sentenced to five years in prison in a plea deal regarding an attempted sexual assault case in Coralville.