A Sioux City man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly assaulting a fellow patient at the Inside Out mental health facility in Woodward and then fleeing the facility but not before smashing a witness’ phone to prevent her reporting the crime.
Keith Alandro Fuselier, 22, of 100 S. Alice St., Sioux City, was charged with assault causing bodily injury, assault-place in fear of contact, third-degree theft, second-degree robbery, fourth-degree criminal mischief, fifth-degree criminal mischief, obstruction of emergency communications, interference with official acts and disorderly conduct-fighting/violent behavior.
The incident began about 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at the facility in the 700 block of Cedar Avenue in Woodward, where Dallas County Deputy Sheriffs responded to a report of a fight in progress between residents of the facility where crisis-stabilization and transitional-living services are provided by the state of Iowa.
The deputies made contact with the supervisor who witnessed the incident, and the supervisor told the deputies that a 65-year-old male resident was “punched” in “the back of the head” by Fuselier, who then “broke a phone” and “”took” the witness’ “personal phone” before leaving the scene.
The deputies detained Fuselier near the corner of Sixth and Main streets in Woodward. Fuselier told the deputies that he “got in a confrontation with another due to the person saying a racial slur,” according to court records.
Fuselier “admitted to punching” the victim, according to court records, and he said that “he took a phone” from the witness because he did not want the witness “spreading lies.”
The deputies made contact with the victim, who “had a black eye and was not alert,” according to court records. The victim was transported to a hospital, where a CT scan “demonstrated soft tissue injuries.”
The witness told the deputies that she “attempted to separate the individuals, and in the process Fuselier” allegedly “made gestures that he was going to hit” the witness, who told the deputies “that she was in fear of being assaulted,” according to court records.
When the witness attempted to call 911, Fuselier allegedly “took the landline phone” from the witness “and smashed it on the ground, causing it to break,” according to court records.
Surveillance camera footage of the incident “was consistent with” the witness’ account, according to court records.
About 8 p.m. Fuselier “requested being seen at a hospital,” and while awaiting treatment at a hospital in the 1600 block of 160th Street in West Des Moines, Fuselier allegedly “began walking away from” the deputies and “yelling and resisting” and had to be “physically restrained against a wall to protect members of the public” who were also at the hospital, according to court records.
Fuselier is held in the Dallas County Jail on a $5,000 cash or surety bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 17 in Dallas County District Court.
Fuselier was convicted of assault on persons in certain occupations in 2023 in Polk County District Court. He was convicted of first-offense domestic abuse assault-bodily injury or mental illness in 2022 n Woodbury County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
