Hunter
05/14/20
A Chicago man who was living in Iowa City back in 2017 when he was convicted of domestic abuse and charged again in January of this year was apprehended and jailed Wednesday.
The incidents involve 40-year-old Ricardo Steward, who was living in the 2100 block of Davis Street in June of 2017 when officers responded to his residence on reports of a male assaulting a woman. Steward was sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle with the victim in the front. After separating the parties, the woman told police that Steward threw her down on the bed, struck her in the face, and placed his hands around her neck. Officers noted a laceration above the woman’s eye, and she allegedly compained of pain to her neck and at the site of the laceration.
The two had a multiple-year romantic relationship at the time and spent most nights in the same residence.
Steward was taken into custody and charged with domestic abuse assault causing injury, a serious misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail suspended and a year’s probation in a plea deal in July of that year.
Then on January 7th of this year, Steward appeared at a residence in the 4200 block of Sycamore Street around 11:15pm. The victim was laying downstairs when Steward is accused of knocking on the window. She told him to leave and was going to call police, but Steward allegedly kicked in the door and choked the woman, saying he was going to kill her.
The woman tried calling 911, but Steward reportedly grabbed her cellphone and refused to return it. He then reportedly stood up and stomped on the woman’s stomach while she was still on the ground.
At the time, the two parties had been in an intimate relationship for three months.
He was charged with 1st degree Burglary, domestic abuse assault 2nd offense, domestic abuse assault impeding airflow, 1st degree harassment, 5th degree theft, and obstruction of emergency communications. A warrant was issued for his arrest and a no-contact order was requested.
Steward was booked into the Johnson County Jail Wednesday morning. If convicted on the January charges, he could be sentenced to over 33 years in prison.
