Woman found along Coralville road arrested in Cedar Rapids

The woman who told authorities she was assaulted and dumped along Highway 6 in Coralville last week has been arrested after police found her walking along Interstate 380 in Cedar Rapids.

Amber C. Vincentz, 29, address unknown, was taken into custody around 12:05 a.m. Wednesday when police found her walking her along the shoulder of northbound I-380 near Wright Brothers Boulevard, police said. According to the officer's report, Vincentz would not stop walking until the officer grabbed her arm, and seemed "dazed."

Sgt. Cristy Hamblin, a police spokeswoman, said Vincentz appeared to indicate that she could not speak, because she responded to questions with sign language. However, after she was transported to Mercy Medical Center, she started to talk to a doctor.

Police said Vincentz ultimately declined treatment at the hospital, but was arrested when she gave the officer a fake name. When pressed, Vincentz admitted she falsified her identity and gave her real name, Hamblin said.

Once Vincentz was taken to the Linn County Jail, she claimed her shoulder hurt when she had fallen on the interstate, police said. After a return trip to the hospital to get checked, she was booked into the jail.

Vincentz faces one count of providing false information to law enforcement.

Hamblin confirmed that Vincentz was the woman who was found unconscious along Highway 6 in Coralville on the evening of June 13. After CPR was initiated and she was revived at the scene, Vincentz told police she had been assaulted and dumped along the highway, authorities said.

Coralville Police Chief Barry Bedford was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday. He told The Gazette on Monday the woman, whose name had not been released, did not suffer life-threatening injuries and had been released from the hospital.

Bedford said his investigators were working with agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation on the case.

“We are going to keep looking into it,” Bedford said Monday. “Any time there are allegations like this, we take it seriously.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, Vincentz remained in custody at the Linn County Jail.