IC man with long record arrested on burglary charges
Hunter
5/14/19
An Iowa City man with a colorful history of arrests in and around the area has been charged with attempted burglary after an incident late Friday night.
Officers were sent out to the American Legion Club regarding 50 year-old Gary Leon Duffel II, who said he was having a panic attack and wanted to go to the hospital. While medical personnel attended to Duffel, another call came in reporting that he had recently broken a window at the reporting party’s apartment in the 900 block of Willow Street.
According to the victim, Duffel went to his window and started to smash it in with something. He added that he didn’t know who was perpetrating the alleged crime until Duffel identified himself. The victim states that Duffel said, “I’m coming in because you are a mother effer.”
The victim told Duffel to leave several times and only left because he called 911.
Officers say that Duffel had a baseball bat with him and admitted that he swung it at someone earlier. The victim said he was afraid because Duffel is mentally unstable.
A check of court records would appear to bear out the victim’s allegations; over 100 cases or infractions, most alcohol- or drug-related, are listed. Some of the more colorful of Duffel’s infractions include cutting down the flag at the Iowa City VFW, throwing pizza at the manager of Bardot, urinating on the front porch of a City Councilor, stealing a keg off a beer truck, toppling a statue causing $12,000 in damages, and stripping off his clothes and screaming about his recent release from a county correctional facility.
A warrant was issued for Duffel’s arrest and he was picked up late Monday night on first degree Attempted Burglary charges. That is a Class C Felony and if convicted, Duffel could be sentenced to up to ten years in prison.
