2008 Woodie Awards
Man allegedly Tasered, robbed
Nick Petersen - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 1/30/06 Section: Metro
- Page 1 of 1
Correction Feb. 1, 2006
A man found crumpled in the shadows next to Dave's Foxhead Tavern told police he was shot with a Taser and robbed of $15 and a cell phone by two men Sunday night.
John Raymond Johnson, 21, was charged with first-degree robbery, going armed with intent, and carrying weapons, police said late Sunday.
Witnesses, who initially assumed the man had been in a fight with the two men spotted running from the scene, said they didn't realize he had been robbed until he staggered across the street into John's Grocery, 401 E. Market St., for help.
"He didn't look like he was physically hurt but really shook up," said Adam Grosso, a John's employee. "It looked like he was in shock."
Grosso said people inside the store gathered around the window after two customers came in and said there was a fight. They called police soon after the man came in "stumbling back and forth and pacing."
The incident started as a foot chase through the Mercy Hospital parking lot, Daily Iowan staffer Peter Madsen said. He said he heard the man tell as much to police while he was filing a report.
Madsen was driving south on Gilbert Street and stopped at a red light around 7:20 p.m. when he noticed two guys run from a third man, who was slumped against the west side of the Foxhead, 402 E. Market St.
Chris Wiersema, who lives in a house next to the Foxhead, said he heard a commotion and people running. He assumed it was just typical noise at the busy intersection.
"I never heard anyone yell for help or anything like that," Wiersema said. "Just this guy bellowing."
Madsen said one of the two suspected robbers was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and the other had a backpack. Both men were white, in their early 20s, around six feet tall, and of slim build, he said.
He pulled into John's, where he met the alleged victim, whose pants had been torn where he was reportedly shot with a Taser, and police arrived within three to five minutes, Madsen said.
When police arrived, the alleged victim went back across the street to retrieve his key and a Decemberists CD, Madsen said. An officer later retrieved a broken vodka bottle lying on the sidewalk.
An ambulance was called to treat the man, and police collected reports from witnesses. Numerous Iowa City police cruisers also fanned through the neighborhood to search for suspects.
At one point, officers gathered outside a house near the intersection of Bloomington and Van Buren Streets with the alleged victim.
The late-Sunday night fracas was the second reported robbery this weekend involving a Taser, according to police.
An employee at Gasby's, 2303 Muscatine Ave., was shocked with the stun gun early Jan. 28, police said. He did not sustain any "obvious" injuries from the Taser, and no money was stolen from the gas station, officials said.
The suspect in that case is described as a white male, 5'10'', 175 pounds and was reportedly wearing a red sweater, blue jeans, and a black sweater which covered his face.
E-mail DI reporter Nick Petersen at:
nicholas-petersen@uiowa.edu
Correction: In the Jan. 30 story "Man allegedly Tasered, robbed," it was incorrectly stated a Taser was used during the alleged robbery. Taser is a brand name of a product made by Taser International; the story should have called the alleged weapon a stun gun.
A man found crumpled in the shadows next to Dave's Foxhead Tavern told police he was shot with a Taser and robbed of $15 and a cell phone by two men Sunday night.
John Raymond Johnson, 21, was charged with first-degree robbery, going armed with intent, and carrying weapons, police said late Sunday.
Witnesses, who initially assumed the man had been in a fight with the two men spotted running from the scene, said they didn't realize he had been robbed until he staggered across the street into John's Grocery, 401 E. Market St., for help.
"He didn't look like he was physically hurt but really shook up," said Adam Grosso, a John's employee. "It looked like he was in shock."
Grosso said people inside the store gathered around the window after two customers came in and said there was a fight. They called police soon after the man came in "stumbling back and forth and pacing."
The incident started as a foot chase through the Mercy Hospital parking lot, Daily Iowan staffer Peter Madsen said. He said he heard the man tell as much to police while he was filing a report.
Madsen was driving south on Gilbert Street and stopped at a red light around 7:20 p.m. when he noticed two guys run from a third man, who was slumped against the west side of the Foxhead, 402 E. Market St.
Chris Wiersema, who lives in a house next to the Foxhead, said he heard a commotion and people running. He assumed it was just typical noise at the busy intersection.
"I never heard anyone yell for help or anything like that," Wiersema said. "Just this guy bellowing."
Madsen said one of the two suspected robbers was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and the other had a backpack. Both men were white, in their early 20s, around six feet tall, and of slim build, he said.
He pulled into John's, where he met the alleged victim, whose pants had been torn where he was reportedly shot with a Taser, and police arrived within three to five minutes, Madsen said.
When police arrived, the alleged victim went back across the street to retrieve his key and a Decemberists CD, Madsen said. An officer later retrieved a broken vodka bottle lying on the sidewalk.
An ambulance was called to treat the man, and police collected reports from witnesses. Numerous Iowa City police cruisers also fanned through the neighborhood to search for suspects.
At one point, officers gathered outside a house near the intersection of Bloomington and Van Buren Streets with the alleged victim.
The late-Sunday night fracas was the second reported robbery this weekend involving a Taser, according to police.
An employee at Gasby's, 2303 Muscatine Ave., was shocked with the stun gun early Jan. 28, police said. He did not sustain any "obvious" injuries from the Taser, and no money was stolen from the gas station, officials said.
The suspect in that case is described as a white male, 5'10'', 175 pounds and was reportedly wearing a red sweater, blue jeans, and a black sweater which covered his face.
E-mail DI reporter Nick Petersen at:
nicholas-petersen@uiowa.edu
Correction: In the Jan. 30 story "Man allegedly Tasered, robbed," it was incorrectly stated a Taser was used during the alleged robbery. Taser is a brand name of a product made by Taser International; the story should have called the alleged weapon a stun gun.
