Fourth man arrested in connection with Iowa City robbery

IOWA CITY - A fourth man faces charged in connection with a November robbery.

According to Iowa City police criminal complaints, 19-year-old Artquon L. Kirksey, of Coralville, faces two counts of third-degree robbery and one count of riot. Police have already arrested Kiwon Clay, 21, of Iowa City; Ali A. Ali, 20, of Iowa City; and Arthur L. Kirksey, 20, of Coralville; on identical charges related to the investigation.

Police responded to 511 S. Gilbert St. around 10:53 p.m. Nov. 6 for an assault in progress. Officers learned two people had been assaulted and two more had been robbed by a group of seven or more men.

One woman reported that the men tried to grab her purse before punching her in the stomach, police said. A man said he was held down by several suspects while others went through his pockets. The assailants took a phone from one person, police said.

The robbery and riot charges are both aggravated misdemeanors. Artquon Kirksey was arrested in August on one charge of first-degree burglary, a Class B felony, for an incident on July 4 in Coralville when he allegedly forced his way into a home and assaulted a pregnant woman. Kirksey has pleaded not guilty to that charge and is scheduled to go to trial next month.

Kirksey remains in custody on a $45,000 cash or surety bond for the three new charges and for violating the conditions of his pretrial release on the first-degree burglary charge.

l Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com