Lang
2/5/24
A transient faces multiple charges after he and another subject reportedly got into a fight involving a hatchet and a stick.
Iowa City Police were dispatched to an altercation on the 400 block of Highway 1 West just before 5:45 Sunday night. 38-year-old Joseph Velazquez and another man had been arguing over a bicycle when the other man allegedly started waving around a hatchet. Velazquez claims the other man hit him in the face when he turned towards him. The other subject claims Velazquez hit him in the head with a stick causing a visible injury, and he only hit Velazquez in self-defense.
A witness told police they saw the two arguing and the man waving the hatchet, but they did not see the entire altercation.
A search of Velazquez’s person reportedly turned up a container holding a crystal-like substance in his pocket. He was arrested and charged with Disorderly Conduct.
Once at the Johnson County Jail, 15 packets of a controlled substance were found on Velazquez’s person, leading to additional charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance – 2nd Offense and Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp. If convicted on all charges, Velazquez faces a maximum of over seven years in prison.