News : Nuisance Property results in 2 Arrests

Timothy Osborn

Jane Osborn

According to two press releases by the City of Vinton and the Vinton Police Department:

The City of Vinton instituted a court ordered cleanup of the property located at 615 A Ave, Vinton. The City of Vinton currently has ordinances that prohibit junk, junk vehicles and other types of nuisances under Chapter 50 and 51 of the Vinton City Code and as well as Iowa Code 657. The City of Vinton has made numerous attempts to work with the property owners of 615 A Ave. since April 2016 to have the nuisance abated.

Unfortunately, the City of Vinton had several public hearings, appeals and compliance hearings in order to have the property at 615 A Ave. meet the requirements set in the City Ordinance and State Law. The district court has ordered the City of Vinton to clean up the property in order to comply with the law no later than Tuesday, May 21 at 4:30 p.m. if the property owners did not do so by Tuesday, May 7, 2019.

During this court ordered clean up, the City of Vinton removed a total of 17 dump truck loads of items from the property on Monday, May 13, 2019, and Tuesday, May 14, 2019.

On May 13th and 14th, 2019, Vinton Police officers escorted the city of Vinton street crews who had been tasked with carrying out a court-authorized cleanup of 615 A Ave. in Vinton. This property is owned by Timothy and Jane Osborn and has been the focus of more than three years of nuisance abatement attempts by the City of Vinton regarding various City ordinance violations on the Osborn's property. Vinton Police officers were present only to ensure the safety of the city crews and to ensure that no one interfered with their court authorized work.

On May 14th, at approximately 2:56 p.m., crews were preparing to remove an inoperable vehicle per the court's direction. Cleanup work had to be stopped because Timothy Osborn crawled under the inoperable vehicle, strapped himself to the undercarriage, and refused to come out and allow City Crews to continue. Officers tried to reason with the Osborns for nearly 30 minutes before Timothy Osborn finally came out from under the vehicle. As officers went to arrest Timothy Osborn for Harassment of Public Officers and Employees, both Osborns interfered with the arrest and the continuing cleanup work. Both Osborns were placed under arrest and were transported to the Benton County Jail where they were charged with the following:

Timothy Sylvester Osborn, age 54

1) Harassment of Public Officers and Employees (Simple Misdemeanor), section 718.4 of the Code of Iowa.

2) Interference with Official Acts (Simple Misdemeanor), section 719.1(1)(a) of the Code of Iowa

Jane Ellen Osborn, age 59

1) Possession of a Controlled Substance - Marijuana (Serious Misdemeanor), section 124.401(5) of the Code of Iowa

2) Harassment of Public Officers and Employees (Simple Misdemeanor), section 718.4 of the Code of Iowa.

3) Interference with Official Acts (Simple Misdemeanor), section 719.1(1)(a) of the Code of Iowa

An arrest or criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant(s) is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

To see a video of the action, click here