Iowa City police arrest man for attacks on women

IOWA CITY - Iowa City police have arrested an Iowa City man they said was attacking women in a west side park.

Sgt. Scott Gaarde said between May 27 and June 8, the police department took five reports from women who described being accosted by a man in or near Willow Creek Park. The victims reported the suspect would ride past the women on a bicycle, then approach them from behind and grab them.

According to criminal complaints:

- On May 27, a woman reported she was walking in Willow Creek Park when a man rode up to her on a bike and 'aggressively” grabbed her genital area. The man said something unintelligible to the woman and rode off.

- On June 2, a woman said she was running in the park when a man rode up on a bike and grabbed her buttocks. He then rode away on his bike.

- On June 4, a jogger said a man rode up to her on a bike, turned around and grabbed her under her buttocks and between her upper thighs before riding away.

- On June 5, an officer was flagged down and a woman reported that two days earlier a man rode up behind her on a bike and grabbed her.

The suspect was described as a heavy set white man who was roughly 40 years old.

Gaarde said police responded by increasing patrols in and around the park, deploying bicycle officers and using plain clothes officers. The suspect, 44-year-old Anthony M. Long, was identified on June 9 when police used a plain clothes female officer in the area.

'The behavior he exhibited was consistent with what was reported by the other victims,” Gaarde said.

Based on their investigation and cooperation from the victims, Long was charged this week with four counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, an aggravated misdemeanor. He was taken into custody on Wednesday and transported to the Johnson County Jail.

Police said the attacks are still under investigation and additional charges are pending. Anyone who believes they were a victim of a similar incident is asked to call investigator Andy Rich at 319-356-5452.