CEDAR CITY, Utah, Sept. 26, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A man has been booked into jail after police say he assaulted an officer — placing him in a headlock — after Cedar City police arrived on a domestic violence call.
Kelly Duane Kroening, 49, is being held without bail in the Iron County Jail on suspicion of:
- Assault of a peace officer or a military service member in uniform, a class A misdemeanor
- Assault, a class B misdemeanor
- Intoxication, a class C misdemeanor
Kroening was arrested at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, a probable cause statement says.
“Officers responded to a report of a possible domestic problem that occurred in a vehicle,” the statement says. “The reporting party … witnessed a female in the vehicle with a bloody face, and was motioning to the (the witness) to call 911.”
The reporting party made the call, then followed the vehicle to a local motel, “where they witnessed the male and female enter room 106,” the statement says.
The Cedar City officer who filed the report wrote that he approached the motel door and could hear yelling.
“I announced myself and the police and to open the door,” the officer wrote. “I could hear the male yelling something, but could not make out what it was and the door opened.
“I tried to get the male to place his hands behind his back, but he refused and approached me and put me in a headlock. Two other officers then were able to take Kelly to the ground and place him in handcuffs.”
The woman in the room told officers that Kroening had punched her in the face while they were driving back to the motel from a friend’s house.
“I could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from Kelly’s person and (the woman) stated they both had been drinking,” the officer’s report says.
Kroening is being held without bail in part because of concerns he may cause harm to the alleged victim.
