In North Liberty, Iowa, a man strangled a woman with a twirled American flag. Allegedly, he repeated, "You need to die" while performing the heinous act.
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According to a criminal complaint obtained by KCRG, the Cedar Rapids man, Adam Sotzen, 39, was exercising an array of disruptive, destructive, and physically aggressive behavior before his arrest on Monday morning.
Sotzen and the victim had allegedly had a previous dispute. The victim did not detail the previous dispute. It's also unclear how long ago the dispute took place.
The man was possibly drunk and appeared at the home of the victim. He began to destroy property in the front yard. The victim was on the scene, and he then grabbed a nearby American flag and twisted it into a cord. He used the flag to strangulate the victim.
Man Uses American Flag To Assault A Woman
The man repeated "You need to die" to the woman fearing for her life. She knew he was capable of killing her.
The victim's boyfriend intervened to remove the man from his girlfriend. Sotzen punched the boyfriend in his ribs and in his face, leaving him with a fat lip. He proceeded to drive off.
That's when the victim called the police to alert them of the assault and the probable intoxicated driving.
Thankfully, the police caught Sotzen and arrested him. He's been done with numerous charges, Assault with Intent to Inflict Serious Injury, Operating While Under the Influence, and Harassment. Some hearing this story are surprised he also wasn't charged with attempted murder.
Many consider yelling such an awful statement whilst performing an action that can lead very easily to death as attempted murder.
This won't be Sotzen's first encounter with prison. He had served time for a "serious misdemeanor" in 2012, according to state prison records. It's not specified what exactly he did before. Let's hope this will be his last criminal act.
I hope the victim recovers physically and psychologically from the outrageous attack.
