Cedar Rapids man arrested after fight at H-Bar in Iowa City last month

IOWA CITY — A Cedar Rapids man is facing charges of willful injury and participating in a riot last month that started inside the H-Bar in Iowa City and continued outside.

Antonio Scotton, 19, was arrested and booked in the Johnson County Jail on Monday morning.

According to the criminal complaint, “a large fight” occurred at the H-Bar, a hookah lounge at 220 S. Van Buren St., on Oct. 23 at 1:50 a.m.

“Multiple people were removed from the premises and the fight continued in the street,” the complaint said.

H-Bar and alley as captured by Google Maps Street View cameras in November 2021

Scotton was identified as participating with multiple other people. There was kicking, shoving, punching and stomping, the complaint said.

Scotton was identified by witnesses as punching and kicking a woman while she was on the ground, which rendered her unconscious, the complaint said. Scotton remains in jail on a $10,000 cash only bond.

Police dispatched to H-Bar soon after

At 1:59 a.m., police were dispatched to the H-Bar for a report of multiple shots fired in the alley. The police activity log said “about 6 shots” were heard.

Waymond Thomas, 36, of Iowa City was struck by gunfire outside of H-Bar following an altercation that started inside. Thomas was transported to the hospital, where he died. The case remains under investigation.

First nuisance abatement petition in decades

The city of Iowa City last week filed a nuisance abatement petition in Johnson County District Court against the property and business owners of the H-Bar following the fatal shooting, increased serious incidents and a spike in calls for service.

The city said in a news release it is pursuing these measures “to protect the community from the ongoing serious criminal activity occurring at and around the business since its opening earlier this year.”

The city has not filed a nuisance abatement petition in at least 30 years, if ever, according to the city attorney’s office.

The petition requests the court require the H-Bar to close between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily. The bar is currently open 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Thursdays and 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, according to its Facebook page.

A hearing on the city’s request for a temporary injunction has been set for Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. at the Johnson County Courthouse. The H-Bar can operate without the restrictions in place at least until the Dec. 1 hearing, according to the city.

Iowa City police have increased patrols around H-Bar this year, often requiring officers to work in an overtime capacity, according to the city. The city has “unsuccessfully sought” to address the ongoing issues with the property owners.

There were 23 calls for service to 220 S. Van Buren St. between 2016 and 2021, according to police. Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 23 of this year, there were 173 calls for service at the address.

Those calls include a large fight on April 10 and a fight on June 19 in which a firearm was recovered from an individual barred from carrying guns.

A shots-fired incident in the alley outside the bar on Aug. 7 left a woman seriously injured with multiple gunshot wounds. The case remains under investigation.

H-Bar City Petition to Abate Nuisance by Gazetteonline on Scribd

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