Police: Two Iowa City Men Arrested for Armed Robberies, Police Aided by New K9 Unit

Two men were arrested and charged with armed robbery after they were tracked to a residence with the aide of a newly trained K9 member of the Iowa City Police.

According to a police media release, at 12:35 a.m. this morning the Iowa City Police Department responded to Gumby's Pizza at 702 S. Gilbert Street for the report of an armed robbery.

Once the officers arrived, a store employee informed them that two black men, one armed with a handgun, had entered the store. The man with the handgun then pointed it at the employee's head and demanded money, and the employee complied, giving the two men an undisclosed amount of money before the two men fled on foot.

Responding officers spoke with a nearby witness who was able to point out a location where they had observed the suspects fleeing from the scene. From here, Iowa City K9 Officer Brandon Faulkcon and K9 Rakker, in their first week of patrol since being trained and certified as a K9 unit, were able to track the suspects to an apartment building located at 816 S. Gilbert Street. 

Subsequent interviews of the occupants of 816 S. Gilbert #3 and the service of a search warrant at this residence led to the arrests of Marvis Jackson, 27, of Iowa City for first-degree robbery and Wesley Turner, 24, of Iowa City for first-degree robbery with joint criminal conduct. Both charges are class "B" felonies.

After Jackson was taken into custody, investigators reviewed evidence from other recent unsolved armed robbery cases and were able to determine that he was responsible for two other armed robberies in the area.

Jackson has also been charged with additional counts of first-degree robbery for armed robberies that occurred and on . 

No one was injured in any of the robberies.

Jackson and Turner are currently being held at the Johnson County Jail.