Iowa City school board member arrested, charged with domestic abuse

IOWA CITY - A member of the Iowa City school board was arrested and charged with domestic abuse early Saturday morning.

According to a Coralville Police Department criminal complaint, officers were called to the home of Tuyet Dorau, 36, at 1:20 a.m. Saturday for a report of a domestic incident. Responding officers encountered Dorau, the alleged victim and a witness at the residence. Neither the victim nor the witness is identified in the criminal complaint.

The witness told police that Dorau and the victim had been in a verbal argument that turned physical. Police said the witness reported that Dorau attacked the victim and that the victim was only trying to hold her down to stop the confrontation.

Dorau did not return phone and email messages seeking comment on Sunday.

Police said the victim reported that Dorau hit him with a clothes hanger and physically attacked him. He told police that he tried to hold her down and she kicked him in the stomach. The victim had scratches and redness on his stomach, police said.

Dorau was arrested on one count of domestic assault without intent to cause injury, a serious misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. According to online jail records, she was booked in the jail at 3:18 a.m. Saturday and released at 10:37 a.m. that morning after posting a $1,000 cash bond.

A no-contact order has been requested, according to court documents.

The Iowa City school board's code of conduct says board members must act ethically, businesslike and lawfully, 'including proper use of authority and appropriate decorum when acting as Board members.” It does not indicate proper conduct when not acting as board members.

Chace Ramey, Chief Community Affairs Officer for the district wouldn't comment on Dorau's arrest.

'The District does not have a position on the alleged events over the weekend,” Ramey said in an email Sunday evening.

According to Dorau's profile on the Iowa City school board members website, her term on the board expires in 2017. She first was elected to the board in 2009 and was re-elected last year.

Reporter Alison Sullivan contributed to this story.