Cedar Rapids man sentenced to 22 years for armed burglary, assault

CEDAR RAPIDS — A woman who was assaulted and taken from a residence at gunpoint by a former boyfriend told a judge during his sentencing that he put her in the hospital and she lost her job and house because of the assault.

“I didn’t know what he was going to do to me,” the woman, tearing up, said in an impact statement Tuesday.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Fae Hoover sentenced Nicholas J. Hallman, 27, of Cedar Rapids to 22 years in prison for the armed burglary and kidnapping of the woman and her boyfriend, Antonio Hill, on Oct. 27 of last year, and in a separate burglary conviction for a previous incident Aug. 2.

Hallman previously pleaded to a lesser charge of second-degree burglary for the Aug. 2 incident, in which he broke into the same former girlfriend’s residence but that time assaulted her mother, according to a complaint.

At the hearing, he also pleaded in the Oct. 27 incident to second-degree burglary, false imprisonment, intimidation with a dangerous weapon and domestic abuse assault while displaying a dangerous weapon.

Hoover ran one of the burglary charges, intimidation with a weapon, false imprisonment and assault consecutively, and the other burglary was ran concurrently to those for a total of 22 years in prison.

Hallman declined to make a statement during sentencing.

According to a criminal complaint from Oct. 27, Hallman, armed with a gun, broke into the woman’s residence on Center Point Road NE about 6:15 a.m. Oct. 27 and confronted Hill and fired his weapon into a wall behind Hill.

Hallman then kidnapped the woman and forced her into a vehicle, the complaint stated. He directed others in the vehicle to take them to 5239 Midway Dr. NW, where he forced the woman into a bedroom and assaulted her “while he interrogated her about other relationships,” according to the complaint.

Hallman eventually left the residence and was arrested about 3 p.m. by Marion police, the complaint stated. Police found Hallman in a vehicle with another person who attempted to elude officers.

There was a short vehicle and foot chase, resulting in Hallman being apprehended behind the U.S. Post Office at 3800 Highway 151 in Marion.

Before his arrest, investigators found the woman about 10 a.m. back at her residence.

Police said the woman had injuries from the assault and abduction. There was no information in the records about how she got back to her residence.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com