Lang
12/11/23
Charges have been dropped against a 92-year-old who had been accused of causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to a West Branch construction site.
Croell Inc. on South Riverside Drive in Iowa City reported to KCJJ in November of last year that someone had driven through fresh, wet concrete on Herbert Hoover Highway about a half-mile west of West Branch High School. They offered a $10,000 reward for information that led to the arrest of those involved.
After an investigation, the Johnson County Sheriff’s office believed Carl Fobian of Oasis Road drove his 2008 Chevy Impala around the closed barricades on Herbert Hoover Highway at Oasis Road and then again at Lower West Branch Road. Investigators believed he drove through the newly-poured concrete for about a quarter mile, then made a three-point turn and drove out the way he came in.
Croell Inc. estimated the damage exceeded $366,000.
Fobian was charged with Trespass Causing Damage Greater Than $300, a serious misdemeanor punishable by a jail term of up to one year if convicted.
Fobian’s lawyer, Leon Spies, told KCJJ that witnesses corroborated that Fobian was not at the scene at the time the incident took place, and testing done on the bottom of his car showed mud and gravel dust, but no concrete.
Charges against Fobian were dismissed by Judge Chad Kepros on Monday.