Cedar Rapids man to serve 20 for robbery

A 19-year-old charged with robbing and pistol whipping a man who was walking along a southeast street last December, was sentenced Friday in Linn County District Court to 20 years in prison.

Bryar Byrne, of Cedar Rapids, was charged with second-degree robbery and two counts of conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.

Byrne, along with two others, pulled Riley O'Dean, 19, into a car, taking his cash, pistol whipping him and then leaving him along Highway 100 on Dec. 19.

O'Dean, who was walking in the 200 block of 29th Street Drive SE around 8:30 p.m., told police the men forced him into a car and took his cash. O'Dean suffered a gash above his eye as a result of the assault.

Michael Hicks, 21, of Cedar Rapids, and Elijah Newman, 20, also were charged in the crime.