Hunter
02/16/26
An Iowa City transient who has been in and out of jail for decades has been arrested again.
57-year-old Gary Leon Duffel was at the emergency department at University of Iowa Health Care’s main campus on Hawkins Drive Thursday night. After his discharge for an undisclosed condition, he allegedly damaged a glass door window by banging his head against it five times.
Duffel was taken into custody and charged with 4th degree Criminal Mischief. If convicted on the charge, he could be sentenced to up to a year in jail.
Duffel’s lengthy and colorful criminal history includes stealing a stone turtle statue from Phil’s Building Supplies on Hollywood Boulevard, cutting down the flag outside the Iowa City VFW hall, urinating on the front porch of then-Iowa City City Councilor Mike Wright, taking his clothes off at The Nickelodeon on the Coralville Strip, toppling the Irving Weber statue in downtown Iowa City, and stealing a keg off a beer truck parked at the Benton Street Delimart.
In 2022, Duffel was sentenced to five years in prison after allegedly breaking into a residence and trying to sexually assault a woman.