Crime & Safety

Brawl Between Roommates at Valley Junction Bar Lands One of Them in Jail

Witness: Fort Dodge woman had an "attitude problem" and threw the first punch against her roommate.

Two Fort Dodge women allegedly brawled a Valley Junction bar last week in an incident that sent one of them to the hospital and then jail.

The women, Catherine Dolly, 43, and Sandy Mercer, 50, both of 1703 First Ave. S., Fort Dodge, were drinking March 6 at The Longest Yard, a Valley Junction sports bar, according to a report on file with the West Des Moines Police Department.

A witness, Dale Webber, told police he met Mercer at the bar for a drink. After a time, he and the two women went to the back patio area for cigarettes, and the two women began arguing and a fight reportedly ensued.

Webber told police the two women had fought for some time and he watched until the violence escalated and he thought the fight should be broken up. According to the police report, Webber tried to pulled Dolly off Mercer, but the two continued to fight.

When Officer Ben Woods interviewed Dolly, she alleged that Webber had kicked her in the face, causing her nose to bleed, and she wanted him charged.

According to the police report, Webber said other than trying to pull the women apart, he did not touch Dolly at all.

His story was corroborated by another witness, Larry Kumm, who followed the women to the patio area, where the fight broke out.

According to the police report the argument became more heated and Dolly threw the first punch. With that information, police charged Dolly with assault causing injury, handcuffed her and attempted to place her in the squad car when she “became belligerent and defiant to my requests to walk,” Woods said.

Dolly told police she needed to go to the hospital because her head hurt, and she was taken to Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines by West Des Moines EMS.

After receiving treatment, she was taken to the Polk County Jail.

West Des Moines medics treated Mercer for her injuries at the scene.


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