Riverside man arrested for assault of estranged wife
Hunter
9/11/19
A Riverside man has been arrested for his role in a domestic incident in Iowa City on August 31st.
According to police, 33-year-old Nikolas Petersen of 170th Street is separated from his wife, and was watching their 9-month old child at her residence. When the woman came home at the end of the night around 1:30, she found Petersen in her bed. She confronted him and demanded he get out of the bed, which caused Petersen to became upset.
After additional requests to get out of the bed, Petersen allegedly grabbed the woman and slammed her down onto the bed. After pulling her down, he wrapped his forearm around her neck and squeezed, cutting off circulation to her head to the point where she started to black out.
Petersen reportedly grabbed her phone during the altercation and made her unlock it, then looked through it to see who she was talking to her. He’s accused of punching her on the side of her face. The woman tried several times to get her SIRI to call 911, but Petersen kept pushing buttons to stop the call. Petersen then threw the phone into the living room, and the woman left the room, screaming loud enough to attempt to get a neighbor’s attention.
That woke up the child, who began to scream and cry. The woman retrieved the child then went into the living room to find her phone. Petersen then left, but allegedly took $500 in cash from her wallet and her Ipad.
Petersen later returned through an unlocked sliding door, and the woman and child hid behind a couch, then ran into the kitchen, grabbing a knife as he advanced on her. She told Petersen to leave or she would stab him, but he said words to the effect of “I don’t care.” He eventually left, leaving his cellphone behind.
Petersen is also accused of using the stolen Ipad to log into his Icloud account while in West Des Moines two hours later.
Petersen was booked into the Johnson County Jail Tuesday morning and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault, Domestic Abuse Assault impeding Airflow, Obstruction of Emergency Communications, Child Endangerment, 2nd Degree Theft, and two counts of unauthorized computer access. If convicted on the charges, Petersen could be sentenced to over 12 years in prison.