Lang
11/9/24
All charges have been dropped against a transient accused of burning a University of Iowa Police officer with hot coffee, then pulling a fire alarm inside a campus building in order to avoid arrest.
According to arrest records, just before 8:30 on the morning of March 7th the officer was writing a citation to 51-year-old Joseph Wilk, who was trespassing inside the UI College of Public Health on North Riverside Drive. Police say Wilk threw a cup of hot coffee at the officer, burning his left arm. Wilk then allegedly pulled a fire alarm, causing a full evacuation of the building. Officers were eventually able to take Wilk into custody.
Wilk was initially charged with Assault on Persons in Certain Occupations Causing Injury, Interference With Official Acts Causing Bodily Injury, Trespassing, and Disorderly Conduct. If convicted on all counts, he would have faced a maximum of over seven years in prison.
The assault and interference charges were dropped last month. Online records now show the last two charges of Disorderly Conduct and Trespassing have also been dismissed.
Wilk served one day in jail after a January incident during which he took books from the library inside Gloria Dei Lutheran Church on East Market Street and threw them into the snow-filled street, ruining the books. He reportedly told investigators he only took books about war out of the library as a service to the community.