Vincent Koley

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – A FEMA inspector, angered at a pedestrian who got in his way, allegedly took out a golf club, chased the pedestrian down and bashed him across the arm, breaking the club in the process.

According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the incident Friday grew out of an argument, which started after the inspector nearly drove over the pedestrian, and ended with witnesses surrounding the car to prevent the inspector from escaping before authorities arrived.

Vincent Koley, 74, of Chapin, S.C., a Federal Emergency Management Agency inspector contracted by FEMA from a Virginia housing inspection company, was driving south along 1st Street SW, only a block from the rain-swollen Cedar River. Shortly before noon, he came to the crosswalk in front of the Penford Products plant at 10th Avenue SW and nearly drove into Penford employee Tom Kramer, 54, of Lisbon, Iowa.

Kramer leaped out of the way of the oncoming vehicle, but then pushed against it and told the driver to slow down.

According to the Cedar Rapids Police Department, Koley stopped the car, got out and insisted that "he didn't have to slow down, he was with FEMA."

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After an argument, Kramer turned to walk away, but Koley returned to the car, retrieved a golf club and struck Kramer across the arm.

Kramer was not seriously injured, but the Gazette reported that several Penford employees who witnessed the assault surrounded the car to prevent Koley from making a getaway. At one point, according to police, Koley got back in the car and tried to nudge the vehicle through the crowd, nearly running down Kramer a second time.

Koley has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and booked into the Jones County Jail in nearby Anamosa, Iowa.

 

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