Jealous man accused of assaulting 2, slashing tires

CEDAR RAPIDS — A 39-year-old Anamosa man is accused of sneaking into a rural Cedar Rapids woman's house while she slept on Sunday, attacking her and a man who was with her, and returning hours later to damage four vehicles at the property, according to court records.

Michael Keith Lewis allegedly went to the house in the 3100 block of 76th Avenue Drive SW about 1:45 a.m. and struck the woman — whom he had dated — "on her right leg in an attempt to confront her about the presence of another male," court records show.

The woman told investigators she had recently ended her relationship with Lewis.

  Buy Photo

Lewis then allegedly attacked the other man by wrapping his arm around the man's neck and choking him. Criminal complaints say the man suffered abrasions on his neck and head.

Two children were in the house during the incident.

Lewis returned home after the altercation, where he talked by phone with a deputy sheriff who was investigating it. The deputy did not immediately arrest Lewis because he was seeking more details to clarify what had happened, said Major Chad Colston, who oversees the criminal division of the Linn County Sheriff's Office.

After Lewis' discussion with the deputy, Lewis went back to the house about 6:30 a.m. and cut the tires of four vehicles and severed a brake line of one of them, according to court records.

A deputy stopped Lewis as he was driving away from the house and determined that Lewis was intoxicated by alcohol, court records show. He had an open container of alcohol in the vehicle at the time.

A test of his breath showed his blood-alcohol concentration was .216 percent — more than double the legal limit to drive.

Lewis is charged with three felonies for burglary, criminal mischief and willful injury, and lesser crimes of assault, trespassing, operating while intoxicated and open container. The burglary charge alone is punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

Lewis is held in the Linn County Jail in lieu of a $5,000 bail bond.

Comments: (319) 368-8541; jared.strong@thegazette.com