The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Men charged in assault of a man outside Fieldhouse bar

A North Liberty man has been accused of beating up a man outside the Field House Bar.

Rafer Mateer, 37, North Liberty, was charged May 18 with willful injury causing serious injury and aiding and abetting.

According to an Iowa City police complaint, Mateer and two other individuals removed the victim from the bar’s premises. They took him out the back door to the alley, where he was struck several times.

The complaint said a witness saw Mateer and the codefendants pick up a bottle, swing it in the direction of the victim, and heard the sound of breaking glass.

The victim received several lacerations to his face, consistent with being cut by glass, that have resulted in permanent disfigurement, the complaint said. The victim also received fractures to his orbital socket that required numerous surgeries to emplace prosthetics in order to repair damage, the complaint said.

The complaint said Mateer and the two codefendants, Nicholas William Miller and Phillip Leo Czechowicz, admitted their involvement in the physical altercation’s time and place.

Willful injury causing serious injury and aiding and abetting are both Class-C felonies.

— by Amy Skarnulis

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