Lang
5/1/26
A bat-wielding panhandler arrested by Iowa City Police earlier this week has a history of committing assault with a weapon at the same intersection.
38-year-old Chayanne Quiles of Joliet, Illinois was arrested Monday night after allegedly assaulting a motorist with a baseball bat as Quiles was begging for money in the median next to the left-turn lane of westbound Highway 1 at Westport Plaza. Quiles allegedly used the bat to strike a driver he believed had spit sunflower seeds in his direction. Police say Quiles then stole the man’s cell phone. The driver returned later to retrieve the phone, and Quiles allegedly struck the man’s hood with the bat.
Quiles was later arrested and charged with 1st Degree Robbery, 1st Degree Burglary, 4th Degree Criminal Mischief, 4th Degree Theft, and Assault While Displaying a Dangerous Weapon. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 54 years in prison.
Court records show Judge Jason Burns gave Quiles a 180-day jail sentence with all but two weeks suspended after an incident in November of last year that saw Quiles threaten another driver with a knife at the same location. Quiles pleaded guilty to an Assault While Displaying a Weapon charge.
Social media posts about Monday’s incident include comments from others who claim Quiles has walked up to their vehicles at the same intersection and banged on their windows and/or placed his sign directly in the driver’s side window while demanding money.