Cedar Rapids woman suffers broken bone, brain bleed in assault

CEDAR RAPIDS - A Cedar Rapids woman suffered a brain bleed and broken orbital bone in an assault late Tuesday night.

According to the Linn County Attorney's Office, Cedar Rapids police were called to an apartment building at 514 McKinley St. SE just after midnight Wednesday after neighbors reported hearing the sounds of a 'violent disturbance” in the building. Responding officers found the victim in the building and discovered she had been 'severely beaten.”

Police said blood found in 54-year-old Ronald W. Downs, Jr.'s apartment - in the same building where the woman was found - led to the victim's apartment. Authorities have not released what led to the assault.

Court documents state the victim was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where she has received treatment for a fractured orbital bone and brain bleed.

Downs has been arrested and charged with willful injury, a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.