Crime & Safety
Police: Homeless Man Tries to Take Vengeance on Drug Dealer, But Sets Wrong Car on Fire
The man said he felt compelled to burn the dealer's car after he was cheated on a drug deal.
An Iowa City man was charged with felony arson after his dispute with a drug dealer led him to decide to the dealer's car on fire.
But he mistakenly set the wrong car ablaze.
According to an Iowa City Police criminal complaint, on June 23 at 1:45 a.m. at 2401 Highway 6 the woman whose car was set on fire recorded a conversation with a man named Jerry who said he was staying at Shelter House. In this conversation, the man, later identified as Jerry William Titus, 57, allegedly admitted to the woman that he had set her car on fire because he thought it belonged to a drug dealer who had cheated him during a drug sale. The woman also took a photo of Titus on her phone.
Officers who responded to the scene were able to identify Titus from jail booking photos and the photo on the woman's phone, according to the complaint. Titus was interviewed by an officer in jail, where he allegedly admitted to the same story he told the woman..
Titus was charged with second-degree arson, a Class C Felony, for the crime. He currently is being held in the Muscatine County Jail on this and other charges.
The woman's vehicle was valued at $1,000, according to the complaint.
See Also: Police: Man Bludgeons 'Wrong Guy' with Hammer While Victim Sleeping on Pedestrian Mall Bench
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