Iowa Man Charged For Drinking Cop's Pop During Arrest

A 38-year-old man from Spirit Lake, Iowa who was already facing several charges tacked another one on after he drank a deputy's can of pop during his arrest.

Around 6:10am on Sunday near Little Rock, Iowa, Benjamin Robert Gray was arrested on charges of first-offense operating while under the influence, first-offense possession of a controlled substance (marijuana), possession of drug paraphernalia and fifth-degree theft.

He caught the police's attention when someone reported a 2013 Ford Explorer parked in the middle of the street about a mile and a half south of Little Rock.

When the Lyon County Sheriff’s Deputy approached the vehicle, he found Gray slumped over in the driver's seat with his pants down around his thighs.

The car was parked in the middle of the southbound lane of the road, but was turned off and the key was sitting on the passenger seat.

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Gray's eyes were reportedly bloodshot and watery, and his speech was very slurred. He told the deputy he thought he was on a gravel road near Spirit Lake.

Obviously on something, the deputy walked Gray to the police car, and returned to the Explorer to look for any sort of evidence of what Gray might be on to make sure he'd be okay.

In the back of the car was a small amount of marijuana, and half of a glass pipe with residue in it was found hidden in the middle console.

After the deputy returned to the police car, he found Gray had grabbed the deputy's can of Mountain Dew from the middle console, and had opened it and drank it.

To nobody's surprise, Gray later failed preliminary field sobriety tests.

Iowa's Island City

There is something unique about every town, but there is really something special about Sabula, IA. Known as "Iowa's Island City," Sabula is the only town in the state of Iowa that is entirely on an island. While not a lot of people have been to, or live in Sabula, it is a quaint little town nestled right on the Mississippi River.

Before we show you around "Iowa's Island City," let me give you the history of Sabula. Sabula was established in 1835, according History of Jackson County, Iowa, Volume 1 by James Whitcomb Ellis. Isaac Dorman and a man named Hinkley crossed the river from the Illinois side on a log and decided to settle on what is now Sabula. An Ohio couple, James and Margaret Woods would settle on Sabula about a year later in April of 1836. Their son, Dr. E. A. Woods would purchase Hinkley's interest in the claim. Charles Swan and W. H. Brown would soon purchase Dorman's interest. The three men, Woods, Swan and Brown later had the land plotted in 1837.

The idea behind plotting the land was because there was no town between Lyons (north Clinton) and Bellevue. The plot of the new town was recorded in Dubuque as this area was part of Dubuque county at the time, according History of Jackson County, Iowa, Volume 1 by James Whitcomb Ellis.

According to Island City Harbor's website, Sabula went through a few names before landing on the official town name. In 1837, Sabula was first called Carrollport. Residents of the town didn't like the name because there was a man's name who was Carroll who had a bad reputation. The town changed its name to Charleston, after early settler Charles Swan. The only issue was that there was already a town called Charleston in Iowa which caused much confusion.

In 1846 the settler’s decided to find a name. Island City Harbor's website says that because of it’s sandy soil, William Hubble suggested the town be called "Sabulum" which is Latin for sand. A party was being held around the time the town name was being discussed, when a woman, supposed to be Miss Harriet Hudson, suggested the town be called Sabula as it was easier to pronounce and sounded more elegant, according History of Jackson County, Iowa, Volume 1 by James Whitcomb Ellis.

Sabula did not actually become an island until 1939. According to Wikipedia, in the 1930's, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed the lock and dam system. In 1939, Lock and Dam No. 13 between Clinton, IA and Fulton, IL was built which caused the bottomlands west of the town permanently flooded. With the Mississippi River east of the town, this created the "Island City." A levee was built around Sabula in 1957 for protection, according to Island City Harbor's website. This also allowed for the south sand pit to be turned into a boat harbor.

I would like to thank my mom Beth, her fiancé Matt, my brother Nolan and my wife Ellie for accompanying me to Sabula. We always have a blast on our trips and this one was no exception.

It's now time to introduce you to Sabula, Iowa, Iowa's Island City.

Categories: 2Dorks, Articles

Iowa Man Charged For Drinking Cop’s Pop During Arrest

Iowa's Island City