Compiled by Andrew Brink andrew@dmcityview.com

On the clock

Des Moines Police — March 17

5:11 p.m.
Assault with injury in the 1400 block of East 29th Street. The victim stated that when she was letting her dog in from the backyard, a white male wearing a black baseball cap grabbed her and tried to pull her out of her house. The victim screamed, and her son came to her aid. The victim states that her house was egged last week and that someone has been calling her cell phone and leaving threatening messages. The victim is not sure who is calling her and did not know the man who assaulted her. Photos were taken of the injury to her left earlobe, which appeared to have been cut by her earring. The suspect was driving a green or teal Cavalier; license plate unknown.

8:09 p.m.
Burglary in the 1800 block of 24th Street. The victim stated that she returned home to find the backdoor to her house forced open. The victim then called her son, who searched the house and found that his bicycle (valued at $185) and a gaming console and video games (valued at $500) had been stolen. Officers noticed bicycle tracks leading from the residence to an alley, leading them to believe that the suspect lives in the neighborhood.

9:50 p.m.
Assault with a weapon at Shop N’ Save, 1829 6th Ave. The victim states he was at Shop N’ Save when “two carloads of Hispanics and Bosnians” pulled up and asked him what gang he belonged to. The victim told them he was not affiliated with any gang. The suspects then threw beer cans at the victim’s vehicle resulting in damage to the body of the car. According to the victim, one of the suspects then pulled a gun on him.

SUCKS TO BE YOU

Name: Mailbox
Location: Ames
Sucks to be a mailbox in Ames because: more than 24 have been vandalized with what the Ames Tribune calls “MacGyver bombs” or with baseball bats. According to the Tribune’s report, residents in north Ames woke up on March 24 to find their mailboxes either destroyed or containing unexploded plastic bottle bombs. The bombs contained a mixture of soda pop and household chemicals that resulted in an explosive chemical reaction as gases built up in the bottles. Luckily, the bombs injured no one. Mailboxes are federal property, making it a crime to vandalize or destroy one. Investigators obtained evidence they hope will help prosecute the vandals.

2,000 : the number of major offenses — aggravated assault, arson, burglary, homicide — reported in West Des Moines in 2006 (a 2 percent increase from 2005).

DOCKET DIVING

The following is an excerpt from a recent opinion posted by the Iowa Court of Appeals regarding Kim Wyatt v. Iowa Department of Human Services:

On March 2, 2004, E.W., an 82-year old male, was admitted to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. While a nurse was attempting to administer an IV to E.W., he became agitated and two additional nurses were sought to assist. E.W. began yelling for help. At that time, [Kim]Wyatt entered the room, grabbed a pillow, and put it over E.W.’s mouth in an attempt to stop his screaming. Wyatt claims she was attempting to muffle his shouts because she was concerned the noise could adversely affect the health of one of her patients in an adjacent room. Another nurse twice asked Wyatt to remove the pillow before Wyatt complied. Wyatt’s actions were reported to a nurse manager. After an investigation was conducted, a report of suspected adult abuse was forwarded to the Department. On April 13, 2004, the Health Facilities Division of the Department found Wyatt committed dependant adult abuse in the form of assault and unreasonable punishment. Wyatt appealed to an administrative law judge who reversed [the abuse charge] in a March 10, 2005, decision. The Department then appealed to the Director. On May 9, 2005, the Director reversed the administrative law judge’s proposed decision and affirmed the Department’s original finding that Wyatt assaulted a dependent adult. Wyatt then filed a petition for judicial review. On Jan. 20, 2006, the district reversed the [Director’s decision].

The Iowa Court of Appeals recently reviewed Wyatt’s case, and again reversed the district court’s order and affirmed the Department’s decision finding Wyatt committed dependent adult abuse. However, Chief Judge Rosemary Shaw Sackett dissented to this decision, adding the following to the end of the opinion:

I respectfully dissent.

This is a troublesome case. A nurse operating in an extremely stressful situation momentarily puts a pillow on an unruly patient’s face in an attempt to muffle his screams, which threaten the well being of a second patient. The pillow caused the first patient no injury and he made no compliant. …

There may have been another more acceptable way to silence the first patient and address the emergency, however, the situation demanded immediate action and the nurse obviously did not have the opportunity to consider all options.

911 call

Dispatcher: Sheriff’s office.
Caller: Hi, um, I got my car stuck last night and then I came back today to get it and I got a bunch of stuff stolen out of it.
D: OK, and where was it stalled at?
C: Uh, Northeast of Polk City.
D: Northeast of Polk City?
C: Yeah.
D: OK, I can… are you in the area now? Or where are you at?
C: Yeah, I’m here right now.
D: Where’s here at?
C: I’m like where the car’s at. It’s uh… county line R38.
D: County line R38?
C: County road R38? Does that sound right or not?
D: No, it doesn’t make any sense to me at all. Are you in Polk County or are you in Story County?
C: Um, I’m pretty sure I’m in Polk County. I’m just outside of Polk City…
D: You don’t know what street it’s on though?
C: No I don’t know.
D: OK, well, let me take a message and have an officer give you a call back and see if we can get a report.

Officer’s report: [Name redacted] called the Sheriff’s office to report the theft of items from his friend’s vehicle. The friend lost control of his Ford Focus due to inclement weather and ended up in the ditch in the 1300 block of N.W. 44th Street. This occurred on March 2 at 1 a.m. [The two men] returned to the vehicle at 1 p.m. on March 2 and discovered the vehicle had been burglarized. [The stolen items included a laptop computer, tennis shoes and clothing.]

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