Charles City man charged again in assault incident

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Charles City Man who was charged with a felony and three misdemeanors last month has had additional charges filed against him for alleging violating a no-contact order by calling an assault victim from jail.

Sammie Ray Gray Jr., age 36, had been charged with assault causing bodily injury, a serious misdemeanor, for allegedly assaulting a female victim in the 500 block of Clinton Street on April 20.

It was the same person Gray had last year pleaded guilty to assaulting in September.

According to court documents, on April 20 Gray “assaulted the victim … by grabbing her by the throat and biting her in the face. The defendant also struck her multiple times in the face with his fist and scratched her face with his fingernails. The victim had pain in her face with minor scratches along with bruising and swelling.”

Gray was also charged with a second count of assault causing bodily injury for allegedly assaulting another woman on April 20 “by tackling her and striking her multiple times in the head with his fist.”

He was charged with second-degree criminal mischief, a Class D felony, for allegedly causing about $1,200 to the alleged victim’s home by breaking several windows.

And he was charged with harassment in the first degree, an aggravated misdemeanor, for allegedly having called the first victim while he was in the booking room to the jail “and threatened to kill her.”

Gray is being held in Black Hawk County Jail on no bond.

On April 26, he allegedly violated a no-contact order with the first victim by making two phone calls to her from the Black Hawk County Jail and by sending her a letter from the jail through a second party. He was charged with two instances of contempt for violating the NCO.

On Thursday last week, Gray was charged with another violation of an NCO, a simple misdemeanor, because the alleged assault on April 20 had also violated an NCO that had been in effect since December.

Gray was being sought on an alleged probation violation at the time of the April 20 incident.
He had pleaded guilty in December to assaulting the same person he allegedly assaulted again in April and causing property damage then, too.

He had pleaded guilty to assault with intent to cause serious injury, an aggravated misdemeanor, and to criminal mischief in the third degree, an aggravated misdemeanor.

He was sentenced to a total of up to two years in prison, with all but two days suspended, and placed on one-year probation.

In January, the Iowa Department of Corrections reported that Gray had failed to report for probation and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested on the probation violation warrant at the same time he was arrested for the alleged April 20 assaults.

A hearing has been set for June 21 for revocation of his probation on the earlier case, at which time he could be ordered to serve his previous two-year sentence or the judge could order some other action.

Arraignment for the April 20 incident has been set for May 21 in Floyd County District Court.