Findings in Johnson County officer-involved shooting expected this week

Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness is expected this week to release her office's findings in last week's fatal shooting east of Iowa City and to announce whether or not criminal charges will be filed against the state narcotics agents involved.

Two undercover officers with the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, along with other members of the Johnson County Drug Force, showed up for a transaction in the Breckenridge Estates mobile home park Thursday evening as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation, authorities reported.

The undercover agents met with suspects in a mobile home at 4494 Taft Ave. SE about 6:30 p.m., and investigators reported that the suspects had advance knowledge that the men were bringing with them a large amount of cash to buy illegal drugs.

During the transaction, according to a criminal complaint, two men emerged from a back room – one carrying a handgun and one with a club – and threatened the undercover officers.

Weapons were pulled, and Ivan Hardemon, 22, was fatally shot at the scene, while another suspect, Demarco Dudley, 22, was shot and injured, according to investigators. Dudley faces a charge of first-degree robbery in connection with the narcotics transaction gone awry. He's being held in the Johnson County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

It's unknown at this time what role Hardemon might have played in the encounter.

Two other men have been arrested in connection with the incident, including Dudley's brother, Norman Dudley, 20. He faces a controlled substance charge in connection with the alleged sale of 14.1 grams of cocaine earlier in the week to an undercover officer, according to a criminal complaint.

Investigators said Norman Dudley was present during the fatal shooting Thursday and drove his brother away from the scene to a nearby mobile home park in Iowa City, where Demarco Dudley was discovered and taken by ambulance to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Investigators said John Mulbah, 22, also was present during the altercation, and he was arrested Friday after a four-hour standoff at his apartment on the west side of Iowa City. He too faces a controlled substance charge in connection with an earlier transaction during which he's accused of selling cocaine to an undercover agent for $850, police reported.

Norman Dudley is being held on a $25,000 cash-only bond, and Mulbah is being held on a $50,000 cash-only bond.

None of the officers involved in the Thursday shooting was injured, but they've been placed on paid administrative leave pending a decision out of the Johnson County Attorney's Office on whether criminal charges are warranted.

Bill Kietzman, special agent with the Division of Criminal Investigation, said that because one or more state agents were involved in the shooting, the county attorney's office took the lead on investigating whether excessive force was used.

“She will have the final determination on whether it was a criminal act or not,” Kietzman said. “That's her call.”

He said the DCI is still investigating some details related to the shooting, and he said the Johnson County Drug Task Force is still working the narcotics case that led to Thursday's fatal encounter.