CLEAR LAKE – A Clear Lake man who once removed the lug nuts from a woman’s car whom he was having a dispute with has been sent to jail after a domestic incident.
John Paul Neubauer, age 37 of Clear Lake, is a convicted domestic abuser. This year, Neubauer faced a felony charge of third or subsequent offense domestic abuse assault, brought by Clear Lake police. He was also charged with second-degree criminal mischief. This follows an alleged incident on May 21 of this year; after his arrest, a judge imposed a no-contact order, barring Neubauer from coming near his victim.
Neubauer was later accused twice of violating that no-contact order; once on June 1 and again on July 19, both times by Mason City police.
At a plea hearing on November 7, Neubauer pled guilty to reduced charges of assault causing bodily injury and third-degree criminal mischief. Earlier, he was found guilty of violating the no-contact order twice.
Neubauer was charged by Clear Lake police in April of 2015 with second offense domestic abuse assault. In a plea deal, he pled guilty to first offense domestic abuse assault and was sent to jail for two days and ordered to pay $995.94 in court fees; a fine was suspended. Those two violations will cost him 7 days in jail, each. On the other crimes, he was given a suspended 2-year prison sentence, a 365-day jail term (363 days suspended), a suspended fine and 2 years of probation. He’ll have to pay $2,517.00 in court costs and surcharges.
Neubauer has caused trouble in Mason City before.
At 3:59 AM August 31, 2015, a female reported to police that a male had just removed the lug nuts from her vehicle tire, which was parked outside in the 500 block of East State Street in Mason City. The caller reported one of the residents knowing of the incident chased the male suspect down the street where he entered a truck and drove away. A responding Mason City Police officer and Cerro Gordo deputy where able to intercept the truck and pull it over as it attempted to flee the Cultural Crescent, near 5th Street and South Delaware. The driver was Neubauer. Police told NIT that Neubauer and one of the residents were allegedly involved in a dispute. Neubauer was cited and released for tampering with a motor vehicle. The lug nuts were recovered and replaced. He later pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay $195.00 in fines and court fees. Court records show he never made a payment on that balance, and third party debt collection was unsuccessful.
