Fight at hotel leads to arrest of Iowa man

An Iowa man was charged with first degree assault, strangulation and disturbing the peace after an incident at a local hotel last weekend. Douglas Wiese, 45 is accused of assaulting James Reddick after the two came to Sidney together for a construction job.

Reddick claimed that Wiese started to drink immediately upon arriving in town on the day of the incident. Then Wiese tried to hug and kiss Reddick and even told the other man he loved him, according to the report. When Reddick resisted, Wiese reportedly put him in a wrestling hold. This is when Reddick’s elbow was dislocated, the alleged victim informed police.

Reddick claimed that Wiese also slammed his head on the floor. The men continued to struggle, and at one point Wiese allegedly blocked Reddick’s airway. Reddick claimed to have passed out once during the struggle. The alleged victim tried to defend himself with a bayonet, but was unsuccessful, he said.

Reddick, who had many cuts to his face in additional to the dislocated elbow, was transported to the hospital soon after police arrived at the scene. Staff at Sidney Regional Medical Center confirmed that Reddick’s injuries were considered serious.

Wiese left the hotel following the altercation but was soon located by police. The report indicated that he was intoxicated, had a large amount of blood on his shirt and was only wearing one shoe. Wiese claimed the blood was from an injury to his elbow. Police could not see any injury to the man’s elbow or any other injury that would have produced that amount of blood.

Upon a search of the hotel room which the two men shared, police found obvious signs of a struggle. The room contained multiple empty alcohol containers, one of the beds was pushed to the center of the room and one of the comforters had blood on it. There was a bayonet laying on the floor, unsheathed.

Wiese reportedly told police that a friend of his from Iowa, whom the two men had run into by chance, had assaulted Reddick. Wiese said that he walked away while the friend assaulted Reddick, instead of assisting him.

Wiese allegedly changed his story several times while recounting it to police. He first said that the blood on his shirt resulted from him hugging Reddick. After that, he reportedly admitted to hitting Reddick with his elbow in self defense. He then claimed to have hit Reddick multiple times. Police noticed minor injuries on the knuckles of the suspect’s left hand.

Police Chief B.J. Wilkinson acknowledged that when workers come to Sidney from out of town, many times, crime comes along with them. When contractors bring in a large amount of workers, trouble makers are bound to be among them, he said.