Fairfield man arrested for OWI, child endangerment and assaulting police

FAIRFIELD — A Fairfield man was taken into custody after allegedly crashing a car in a ditch, driving while intoxicated, endangering a child, and later of assaulting a police officer who was attempting to transport him.

Jake Allan Stottler, 39, was arrested on Friday, Dec. 23 after Fairfield Police officers were dispatched to reports of a single vehicle car accident at 1 a.m. that day at Main Street and Buchanan Avenue in Fairfield, where a car had entered a ditch.

According to police reports filed through Iowa Courts Online, responding officers found Stottler in the driver’s seat of the car with a toddler sitting in the passenger seat in only a blanket and underpants. The temperature at the time was freezing “with a wind chill and snow on the ground,” the report stated.

“The defendant admitted to being drunk from consuming a bottle of Crown Royal,” the report said.

Officers proceeded to administer sobriety tests on Stottler, but after the first test, Stottler allegedly told officers he could not take the second or third tests because he was too intoxicated to complete them. Stottler allegedly refused to take a preliminary breath test and DataMaster test, an instrument police use to sample a person’s breath to determine its alcohol concentration.

About two hours after his initial arrest at the scene, Stottled is alleged to have assaulted a police officer while at the Jefferson County Health Center. The report states that Stottler wrapped his legs around the officer’s leg, squeezing it and refusing to let go.

“The defendant stated he knew he had possession of the officer’s leg and declined to let go,” the report said. “This was offensive and painful to this officer.”

Just minutes later, while officers were attempting to transport Stottler from the Jefferson County Law Center to the Jefferson County Jail, he refused to walk to the patrol car, the police report states.

“The defendant kicked and yelled at officers and pulled away,” the report said. “Officers had to carry the defendant to the patrol vehicle and place him in the back.”

Stottler’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3. Stottler had been arrested less than a month prior on Nov. 28 for assault causing bodily injured. He pleaded guilty to simple assault, and was ordered to pay a $105 fine plus surcharge and court costs.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com