Police: Iowa City Man Allegedly Held Loaded Gun to Girlfriend's Head, Threatened to Kill Her

An Iowa City man is facing several charges for a series of abusive acts he allegedly committed against his then girlfriend.

The most serious charges facing Francis Almeida, 28, of Iowa City is felony going armed with intent. This charge stemmed from an incident on May 10 at the couple's residence at the 1400 BLOCK of Laurel Drive, where Almeida threatened his girlfriend with a loaded gun.

According to Iowa City police criminal complaints, the girlfriend told police that she had returned from a trip on May 10. Her boyfriend was at home and she said he was upset that she had not invited him on the trip.

A verbal argument ensued, after which Almeida allegedly took out a loaded semi-automatic handgun and placed it against the woman's head, telling her "if you do this again I will kill you." According to the woman's account, Almeida then counted the number of bullets that had been in the gun in front of the woman. The woman told police that she and Almeida had been in a domestic partnership at the time and he had held a gun to her head on four different occassions.

On Feb. 17 again at the Laurel Drive residence, the woman told police the couple was planning on going out for a late Valentine's Day dinner. The woman told police that she and Almeida started arguing over Almeida's suspicions that the woman was cheating on him, and he allegedly grabbed her arm hard, leaving purple marks. The woman told police that Almeida hurt her like this on several occassions.

Almeida was also charged with domestic abuse with intent or display of a weapon and first-degree harassment, both aggravated misdemeanors.