Coralville man charged in two-year-old burglary

IOWA CITY - A Coralville man has been arrested for his alleged involvement in a two-year-old Iowa City burglary.

According to online records, 20-year-old Markez A. Fox, a resident of Coralville's Hope House residential correctional facility, was booked Thursday in the Johnson County Jail and charged with a handful of new charges, including a first-degree burglary charge stemming back to an incident that took place Aug. 26, 2014.

On that date, at about 11 p.m., Fox and two other individuals arrived at an Iowa City apartment building on South Lucas Street, according to police.

Police say one of the three individuals knocked on the apartment's door and, when the occupant answered, they forced their way into the unit and assaulted an occupant. One victim suffered injuries to their face and the three individuals took several items from the residence - including money and a phone - before they fled the area, police say.

In August of 2015, about one year after the break-in, then-18-year-old Robert E. Armstrong was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery in connection with the incident. That charge was reduced this May to second-degree burglary and Armstrong was sentenced to a suspended 10-years in prison, according to online court records.

Fox's first-degree robbery charge, a Class B felony, is punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

In addition, Fox faces a handful of other charges including an aggravated misdemeanor for first-degree theft and serious misdemeanor for voluntary absence/escape from Hope House.

He was being held Monday in the Johnson County Jail on a $21,000 bond.

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