Employees were able to regain custody of the child from his father
KCJJ Staff
02/21/19
Getting into a physical altercation while trying to remove his young child from a daycare has led to the arrest of a Coralville man.
Arrest records indicate the two-year-old’s mother had placed him in a daycare in the Modern Manor Mobile Home Park in Iowa City. For reasons not made clear, the child’s father – Henry Ramirez Mesa, 29, of 19th Avenue in Coralville – went to the daycare about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday and forced his way inside the in-home daycare to take the child.
Police say in the process of taking his child, he assaulted a 16-year-old. Ramirez Mesa then allegedly attempted to leave with the child, despite the child not being dressed for the cold, snowy weather.
Daycare employees and a passerby then got into a physical altercation with Ramirez Mesa, with the passerby restraining him while the employees regained custody of the child and took him back inside.
Police say the child suffered scratches and red marks during the incident.
Ramirez Mesa is charged with Child Endangerment and 3rd Degree Burglary, charges carrying a combined maximum of seven years in prison.
