AP/Lang
1/8/21
A white man who deliberately sped his car through a crowd of racial injustice protesters in Iowa City, striking many, will avoid prison and have the incident erased from his record if he stays out of trouble for three years.
A judge has granted a deferred judgment for 45-year-old Michael Ray Stepanek of Nevada Avenue, who told police he drove his Toyota Camry through the crowd in August because protesters needed “an attitude adjustment.”
A Black Lives Matter march was stopped in the intersection of Burlington and Gilbert Streets on the night of August 21st. A Twitter video shows Stepanek stopped behind other vehicles on the eastbound 300 block of Burlington Street, honking his horn. He eventually makes a U-turn while squealing his tires.
Police say Stepanek then shut off his lights, drove around the block, and turned south on Gilbert, pulling up to the Burlington Street intersection where there were no cars between him and the protestors. That’s when a second Twitter video shows Stepanek’s car hit multiple victims before turning east on Burlington Street and speeding away. One person who was struck complained of pain afterward. Stepanek was arrested a few days later.
The sentence means Stepanek will have a felony charge of willful injury resulting in bodily injury dismissed and expunged if he doesn’t commit a crime during a three-year term of probation.
