Compiled by Bethany Kohoutek bethany@dmcityview.com

Dispatcher: 911...

Caller: Yes, I had my tailgate stolen off my truck last night. I need to make a police report.

D: Where at?

C: [provides address] I need to have a police report for my insurance...

D: Are you there now?

C: Yes.

D: What's your name?

C: [provides name]

D: What is your phone number?

C: [provides phone number]

D: OK, we'll send somebody over, OK?

C: OK. I appreciate it. Thanks.

D: Thanks. Bye.

Officer's Report: I was dispatched to N.W. 16th Street for theft of a tailgate. Upon arrival, I spoke with [the victim, who] told me that his tailgate was on his red Chevy Silverado last night when he went to bed around 10 p.m. He went to work at 6 a.m., and the tailgate was off the pickup. [The victim] bought the vehicle at Karl's Chevrolet, so it has the emblem on the lower left side. [The victim] also told me that there is a bed liner cover on the inside of the tailgate. [The victim] told me that it would cost $1,200 to replace. I asked him if anything else was missing from the vehicle, and he said no. [The victim] had no suspects.

(Alleged) drunk drivers

Name: Emilio Soriano-Santiago
Arrested: Oct. 1
First offense

Name: Ezra Glee Study
Arrested: Oct. 1
First offense

Name: Anna Kathryn Eisenlauer
Arrested: Sept. 31
Second offense

Docket diving

Patrick Dillon wasn't expecting visitors on the evening of Dec. 12, 2003. At 8:45 p.m., however, Robert Prehm (left), an acquaintance of Dillon's, arrived on his doorstep in "a panicked state," court documents would later reveal.

Prehm told Dillon that he had set fire to a home about 20 minutes earlier. Not only that, but it was the fourth house Prehm had torched that night, Dillon said. Prehm asked Dillon for his shoes so that police wouldn't be able to match his boots to the footprints he'd left in the snow at the scene of the crimes.

Dillon refused to give Prehm his shoes, and instead phoned the city of Clarion's police department as soon as Prehm left his home. Police officers convinced Dillon to wear a recording device and arranged a meeting with Prehm later that night.

Meanwhile, Prehm was still searching for shoes. He went to the home of another friend, Kurt Kirstein, where he ditched his own boots and took a pair of Kirstein's shoes.

Afterward, with the recording device going, Dillon met with Prehm, who again admitted to setting four fires that night. He said he set the fires to settle a debt he owed to a Mexican drug cartel.

Following the recorded conversation, police searched both Prehm's and Kirstein's residences. They found Kirstein's shoes in Prehm's apartment. Prehm claimed he'd recently purchased the shoes, but investigators found Kirstein's name stitched inside the shoes; they'd been issued to Kirstein when he was in prison. In Kirstein's home, police found boots with gasoline on them, and a bottle of soap with traces of gasoline on it. Kirstein said he had no idea where the boots and gas came from, and he denied giving Prehm his shoes.

Prehm was arrested and charged with second-degree arson, second-degree burglary and third-degree burglary. In June of 2005, a Wright County jury found him guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to two consecutive 10-year prison terms.

Prehm recently filed an appeal, claiming that his attorney was ineffective for failing to argue a crucial point: The searches of Prehm's and Kirstein's homes occurred at about 1:44 a.m. and 2:20 a.m. However, the search warrant wasn't faxed to the Clarion Police Department until 2:58 a.m. In other words, police had conducted the searches before the warrant was technically issued.

Turns out, Prehm's attorney did bring up the timing issue. The argument was thrown out by the district court judge after several police officers produced records proving that the time stamp on the fax machine was inaccurate.

The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed Prehm's convictions, given "the overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt, particularly the admissions recorded by police."

Prehm did win one significant appeal, however. Affording to Iowa law, courts must provide specific reasoning for why consecutive sentences are warranted in a particular case - something the judge did not do in Prehm's case. The appeals court ordered the district court to reconsider Prehm's sentence.

Prehm, now 43 years old, is currently serving his time in the Anamosa State Penitentiary.

Big Number

827 number of forcible rapes reported in Iowa in 2005,
compared to 790 in 2004.

Sucks to be you

Name: Demitrus Williams
Location: Johnson County Jail

Posed for this photo because: Demitrus Williams allegedly came all the way to Iowa City from his home in the Bronx to sell fake tickets to fans at the Iowa-Ohio football game last Saturday. Iowa City police arrested Williams and charged him with forgery and criminal mischief, as well as an "obstruction of emergency communications" charge after he allegedly snatched a cell phone from someone trying to call the police to report his unsportsmanlike deeds, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

By the numbers

Some facts about Iowa's inmate population, courtesy of the Iowa Department of Corrections: A total of $292,975,307 was allocated for the Department of Corrections' operating budget in 2006. It costs taxpayers an average of $64.02 per day to house an inmate in one of Iowa's state prisons. Meals for prisoners cost an average of $1.45 each. Forty-nine percent of inmates are under the age of 31; 44.1 percent are between 31 and 50 years old, and 6.9 percent are over 50. In July 2006, 9,321 people were incarcerated in Iowa's prison system; that number is expected to jump to 10,582 by July 2014. Roughly 30,562 people are currently on parole in Iowa.

On the clock

Des Moines Police - Oct. 2

3:15 a.m.

Assault causing injury in the 1300 block of Eighth Street. The female victim told police that her ex-boyfriend assaulted her after she agreed to give him a ride home from a dancers' club. The victim sustained injuries to the head after the suspect allegedly punched her repeatedly in the head and the chest. The suspect allegedly took the victim's cell phone away when she attempted to call 911. The suspect eventually fled, but police eventually located and arrested him. According to police reports, he had blood and scratches on his hand. He was transported to Polk County Jail.

6 p.m.

Assault with a weapon in the 1700 block of Lay Street. Police were dispatched to Phillips School regarding a male suspect carrying a black handgun on school grounds. When officers arrived, they spotted the male, who was 13 years old, digging in the sand on the playground. The suspect denied having any weapons, but police found several green plastic BB pellets in the suspect's front pocket. A later search revealed a BB gun concealed under the sand. The suspect was arrested and taken to the juvenile detention center. At least one student reported being shot with a BB. Several witnesses told police they saw the suspect shoot the BB gun.

8:45 p.m.

Assault with a weapon in the 700 block of E. Fifth Street. The female victim was at a friend's house when another female challenged her to a fight. The two "became engaged in a hair-pulling fight," according to police reports, and "one of the suspects struck [the victim] with a bat." Some of the victim's hair had been pulled out. Police have several suspects.

9:10 p.m.

Burglary in the 200 block of Fourth Street. Police met with a male victim who said that he returned to his apartment, after being gone for the day, to find his cell phone and charger missing, along with $217 in cash, his debit card and a DVD player. The victim said he remembered locking the door, and that no one else has a key to his apartment. There were no signs of forced entry.

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