Iowa City man accused of exposing himself while yelling racial slurs is back behind bars

Lang
12/10/24

An Iowa City man accused of exposing himself while yelling racial slurs is back behind bars after allegedly skipping his trial.

34-year-old Joseph Harmon of North Van Buren Street was booked into the Johnson County Jail just before 10:00 Monday morning. He’s accused of failing to appear at a December 3rd trial on charges of Indecent Exposure and 4th Degree Criminal Mischief.

Harmon was originally arrested on May 15th of 2020 after Iowa City Police received multiple calls just after 2:45 a.m. about a shirtless man yelling on the sidewalk in the 300 block of North Van Buren Street. Other callers claimed the suspect, later identified as Harmon, then broke out a window and was throwing things at buildings.
Later, Harmon was reportedly walking down the street and located a woman inside an apartment. Once eye contact was made, Harmon is accused of yelling the “n” word several times and pulling out his penis. He allegedly yelled several times for the woman to look at it.

When officers located Harmon, he reportedly had his zipper down and his pants were disheveled. He was said to have indications of intoxication, including a heavy odor of ingested alcohol.

If convicted on both counts, Harmon could be sentenced to up to two years in prison.