Hunter
07/04/20
An Iowa City man was taken into custody early Friday after an alleged armed assault and subsequent altercation with arresting officers.
Deputies arrived at a residence on the 3600 block of Highway 1 Southwest in the city after a 911 call came in at 12:23am, reporting a male trying to kill someone with a knife. They made contact with the alleged suspect, 39-year-old Geovanny Galo Mendez, outside the residence. He would not listen to deputy commands, and when he approached them he reportedly punched one of them in the face, causing injuries. Galo-Mendez then continued to fight with deputies, despite being tased multiple times.
When they were able to subdue and handcuff Galo-Mendez, a deputy was checking the handcuffs when Galo-Mendez allegedly grabbed the deputy’s hands and pinched them between his handcuffs, causing injury.
Deputies then made contact with a woman on scene with a newborn baby in her hands. It was discovered that she had been struck in the face by Galo-Mendez, but was reportedly not cooperative in the investigation, and attempted to tell witnesses on scene not to cooperate as well.
One witness told authorities that Galo-Mendez is physical with the woman. The 11-year-old stepson on scene stated that Galo-Mendez cornered the woman in the bathroom, and he grabbed scissors away from her and hid them. The stepson also stated that he had seen Galo-Mendez be physical with the woman in the past.
Galo-Mendez was taken into custody and charged with domestic abuse assault causing injury, and two counts of assault on persons in certain occupations causing injury. If convicted on all counts, Galo-Mendez could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.