(Atlantic) An Atlantic property owner recently sent a letter to the Mayor, City Council, City Attorney’s Office, local law enforcement and the Cass County Supervisor’s expressing his frustration with a person he feels is a “threat to the community”.
Dale Gross is referring to Justin Cooley who is occupying private properties-trespassing, smoking, and discarding spent cigarette butts. Gross owns two properties on Chestnut Street with two apartments above each of the businesses. Gross became involved when the subject was found by one of his tenants sleeping in the upper laundry room of his property.
“Alongside him was a coke can and 12-burnt out cigarette butts, near a trash can containing laundry debris and lint,” said Gross. “The Police were called and they immediately removed him. He returned several times and was removed-but was immediately released by the Police “After having conversation’s with the Atlantic Police Department, the County Attorney has a “do not arrest” because he is incompetent to stand trial.”
Gross says he’s learned from others in the community that Cooley continues to enter apartment buildings and has stolen property and food items from local businesses.
“I feel defenseless and frustrated,” said Gross. “We would be all devastated (and liable) if his future actions caused the loss of life or property.”
Cass County Attorney Vanessa Strazdas says Mr Cooley has been found incompetent to stand trial and cannot be convicted of anything until his competency has been restored. “Competency can happen locally but not if he is in jail,” said Strazdas. “The other option is to have him sent to Oakdale to have his competency restored. The bill for that stay at Oakdale will be the responsibility of the county and will cost the county tens of thousands of dollars.
“The last time a defendant was sent to Oakdale for such a purpose was in 2008, and the bill to the county was $29, 000,” explained Strazdas. “Additionally, even if his competency is restored and he stands trial, it is very unlikely he will stay in prison or jail for any significant period of time and will be back in the community.
“Second, the ability to arrest a person for trespassing is very limited under the Iowa Code. I have only seen one instance where Mr. Cooley could be legally arrested for trespass. And, again we are then left with the issue of competency,” said Stazdas. “Additionally, my belief and the belief of the vast majority of people I’ve spoken with on this issue, is that Mr. Cooley would like to use the jail as housing when he needs it. I do not feel he should be rewarded with a roof over his head and meals, and I am hoping that denying him the use of the jail as housing will force him to seek services to address his issues. I understand that it is very frustrating to the members of the community that have to deal with Mr. Cooley.
“It is frustrating to me as well and I would love to solve the Justin Cooley problem. Unfortunately, using the criminal justice system is really not a feasible solution due to 1) the competency issue, and 2) the reality of how long defendants actually stay in prison,” explained Strazdas. “My belief is that a realistic solution is to have Mr. Cooley placed in a long term residential care facility that can deal with any mental health issues he may have. The county already submits the money to the region for those services, and it seems to me that Mr. Cooley is a good candidate for those services. But, again, access to those services is difficult and I have not yet achieved the necessary cooperation to accomplish such a placement. I am open to viable solutions, but I honestly don’t think we can solve the problem using jail or prison as the solution.”
Meanwhile, Tim Wilson, with the non-profit organization Home Forward Iowa, said there are more homeless people in rural areas than what most people realize. He says the 2nd Annual Home Forward Iowa, Point-In-Time Count is something that happens nationally. The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development requires that communities do this every year at the end of January to gather data on the number of homeless individuals in the area. These numbers are used to distribute grant monies to counties in order to provide resources for the homeless. In Iowa, the count is taking place on the night of January 29th into the morning of the 30th.
