Suspected gang members face charges for Iowa City crime spree

IOWA CITY — Two Iowa City men and one North Liberty man with alleged gang ties face numerous charges — including two counts of robbery — for their roles in a crime spree that played out during the evening hours of Dec. 4.

According to Iowa City police criminal complaints, the rash of crimes began at 6:13 p.m. Dec. 4 in the 300 block of College Street. Police said a male victim reported another man knocking on the exterior door of his residence and pointing a gun at him.

A short time later, at 6:19 p.m., a robbery was reported to police in the 200 block of South Dubuque Street. Police said the victim and a witness reported three armed men robbed the victim at gunpoint and demanded his wallet. When the men saw the witness, one of them allegedly told the victim they were 'just kidding' and left the area.

Police said the next incident happened sometime between the hours of 7:45 p.m. and 9:40 p.m. in the 800 block of Iowa Avenue. Police were dispatched to Iowa Avenue for a car break-in. Officers said a window of the car was busted out with a brick and a Coach brand purse was stolen from the car. A stolen vehicle was parked next to the car that was burglarized, police said.

Within the time frame the car was broken into, police took a second report of an armed robbery, this one at 8:17 p.m. at the intersection of Fairchild and Gilbert streets. The victim reported to police that three men had pushed him to the ground and held a gun to his head. The suspects stole the man's backpack and other property, including his phone and wallet, police said.

Over the course of their investigation, police said 20-year-old Mozell R. McKee was developed as a suspect in the crime spree. At 3 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11, investigators with the department's street crimes unit served a narcotics search warrant at McKee's residence in the 2400 block of Muscatine Avenue. Police said they found a digital scale, marijuana bong, grinder, packaging material, suspected marijuana seeds and notebooks with information on how to grow marijuana.

Police said the stolen Coach purse from the car break-in and the stolen backpack from the second armed robbery were both found near McKee's apartment.

Also identified as taking place in the crimes were 19-year-old Xavier Wright and 19-year-old Cordarro D. Pearson. Police said evidence such as video footage, witnesses statements and reports generated from a University of Iowa Hawk Alert helped to identify the men as the suspects.

Police said the men are believed to have gang ties.

'The investigators determined there were ties to a criminal street gang,' said Sgt. Scott Gaarde. 'As far as other (members), that, obviously, is a continuing investigation.'

Iowa City has been hit with about half a dozen robberies in the last month, including a gas station robbery, two cab driver robberies and the robbery at Fairchild and Gilbert streets. Gaarde said police will explore any connections between the three suspects and the other robberies.

'We're certainly not eliminating the possibility,' Gaarde said. 'We're continuing to investigate leads.'

All three men face charges of criminal gang participation, a Class D felony; two counts of first-degree robbery, a Class B felony; second-degree theft, a Class D felony; third-degree burglary, an aggravated misdemeanor; and fourth-degree criminal mischief, a serious misdemeanor. McKee faces additional charges assault while displaying a dangerous weapon, a Class D felony, for pointing the gun at the man on College Street; second-offense possession of a controlled substance, a serious misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Wright also faces an additional charge of possession of stolen property, a simple misdemeanor.

Police said they have recovered more stolen items during their investigation and are in the process of identifying more victims. Anyone who had property stolen is asked to call the police department at 356-5276.