Flood victim Mike Clemons upset at demolition work in Time Check; lands in jail

CEDAR RAPIDS - Flood victim Michael Eugene Clemons, 40, of 1412 Fifth St. NW, has been arrested on a charge of second-degree harassment based on a complaint filed by an environmental contractor working on flood-damaged homes in Clemons' neighborhood.

Jerome Kitchenmaster, 43, of Brook Park, Minn., an employee of Linstorm Environmental, filed the harassment complaint with the Police Department.

According to the Linn County Attorney's complaint, Clemons is accused of harassing Kitchenmaster “with threats of bodily injury” on Tuesday afternoon at a home on Clemons' block in the Time Check Neighborhood.

Specifically, Clemons is accused of saying he would “shoot them up,” the prosecutor's complaint states.

The incident happened about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Police arrived at Clemons' house a short time later, where officers learned Clemons was attending the Cedar Rapids City Council meeting. He was arrested outside the meeting room at Hiawatha City Hall.

According to a police report, the Tuesday incident was not the first in which Clemons voiced objections to workers engaged in pre-demolition work going on in his neighborhood.

Clemons, who spent Tuesday night in the Linn County Jail, said on Wednesday that he did nothing wrong.

“I didn't do anything but ask a man to move his car from private property,” he said.

He said he will abide by a restraining order issued to him on Wednesday so can stay out of jail and “fight for my neighborhood.”

Clemons noted that he and his dog stayed in the family house on Fifth Street NW until the June 2008 flood forced them to the roof. He stayed in the flood zone after the flood to rebuild the family house, where he and his parents continue to live, he said.

Second-degree harassment is a serious misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,875.