An Idaho man now living in Churdan and a Des Moines man were arrested July 4 in Dawson after allegedly assaulting a Dawson couple outside the couple’s residence.
Joshua William Watkins, 37, of 9 E. Cherry Lane, Rupert, Idaho, was charged with assault and assault causing bodily injury or mental illness.
Noel Matthew Bartusek, 31, of 2710 Adams Ave., Des Moines, was charged with assault and assault causing bodily injury or mental illness.
The incident began about 11:15 p.m. Friday outside a residence in the 200 block of E. First Street in Dawson, where Dallas County Deputy Sheriffs responded to a report of a disturbance.
According to court records, Watkins allegedly assaulted the male victim “by taking him to the ground and getting on top of him.”
The deputies observed on the victim “road rash on his elbow,” and his “neck was slightly red,” according to court records.
Bartusek allegedly assaulted the male victim “by chest bumping him and taking him to the ground,” where he “placed the victim in a choke hold,” according to court records.
Watkins also allegedly assaulted the female victim “by shoving her to the ground,” which “caused the victim to fall over and her glasses to go flying off of her face,” according to court records.
Bartusek also allegedly assaulted the female victim “by shoving her,” according to court records.
Watkins was held in the Dallas County Jail on a $1,000 cash or surety bond, He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 15 in Dallas County District Court.
Watkins was arrested on Fonda in May on a charge of first-offense OWI. The case is pending in Pocahontas County District Court.
Bartusek was held in the Dallas County Jail on a $1,000 cash or surety bond, He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 15 in Dallas County District Court.
Bartusek was convicted of carrying weapons and first-offense OWI in 2013 in Story County District Court. He was convicted of second-offense OWI in 2021 in Polk County District Court. He was convicted of third-offense OWI in 2024 in Greene County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
