NORA SPRINGS – A former Cerro Gordo county jailer was due in court this month for trial on a harassment charge, but failed to appear, leading to a warrant for his arrest.
Aron Bierl, age 29 of Nora Springs, allegedly harassed a person in Nora Springs on September 6, 2015. Nora Springs police filed a charge of third degree harassment on September 8; he was served with a warrant the next day.
After a not-guilty plea, Bierl was released from jail in Charles City after posting bond. He was to stand trail on September 28, but Bierl’s public defender asked for a continuance, which was granted. The jury trial was then set for October 12. However, Bierl did not appear in court, and a second arrest warrant was issued by a judge. Bierl was arrested by Charles City police on that afternoon and taken to jail. A cash bond was posted that day by Ronald Bierl, leading to Bierl’s release from jail.
No new court date has been set, but he will face a hearing in Floyd county district court.
Sheriff Kevin Pals told NIT this morning that Bierl stopped working at the Cerro Gordo county jail on July 13, 2015, when he resigned.
Sheriff Pals did also say that Mr. Bierl had no connection to an investigation earlier this summer involving suspected inappropriate contact between a jailer and a female inmate. No charges were ever filed in that incident, which involved an investigation by the Cerro Gordo county attorney’s office and the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI).
“The DCI found no basis for charges,” Sheriff Pals said back in August. An internal investigation led to the matter being dealt with “internally”, Sheriff Pals said.
The name of the jailer involved in that alleged incident has never been released.
