Hunter
10/18/25
An Iowa City man was arrested Friday afternoon after allegedly taking computer components from a student housing facility and burglarizing a vehicle.
Officers responded to the newly-constructed Replay Iowa City on South Riverside Drive at 3:17pm on reports of 46-year-old transient Harold Blakey entering the maintenance room of the building and leaving with two laptops, a laptop case, and a vacuum. Police say Blakey had no right to be in the building or maintenance shop and he allegedly admitted to taking the items.
A post-arrest search of Blakey reportedly found a meth pipe with burnt residue.
Earlier that day, a warrant was issued for his arrest for an October 2nd incident where he was allegedly in a parking garage on the 800 block of South Dubuque Street and entered an unlocked vehicle and stole a blue cooler and paperwork. The criminal complaint also alleges that surveillance video shows Blakey attempted to gain entry into to other locked vehicles by checking door handles, but was unsuccessful.
Blakey was charged with 3rd degree burglary of a motor vehicle and attempted 3rd degree burglary of a vehicle for the October 2nd incident. He now faces 3rd degree attempted burglary and possession of drug paraphernalia charges for Friday’s incident. If convicted on all counts, Blakey could face a prison term of up to over five years in prison.