Police: Men sexually assaulted woman in Des Moines alley

The Des Moines Register

Two central Iowa men have been arrested on suspicion they forced a woman into a Des Moines alley in April 2017 and sexually abused her, authorities said.

Johnathan Campbell, 42, of Saylor Township, and Ajamu El-Amin, 49, of Des Moines, forced the woman into an alley near Sixth and University avenues and molested her, police said. They were charged with second-degree sexual abuse.

In documents charging El-Amin, a police detective said El-Amin came across the woman that night before grabbing her and threatening her with a stick. The woman was told she would be killed if she did not have sex with the men, authorities said.

Campbell admitted to the assault during an interview with investigators, according to a criminal complaint. Police listed DNA as physical evidence in the charges.

In a victim's pecuniary damage statement, the woman wrote she could not find her top denture. She penned "they took" next to other items, including her jeans and blouse.

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Campbell was booked last week at Polk County Jail, where he remained Wednesday on a $25,000 cash bond. A warrant for his arrest was issued in April, court records show.

El-Amin was booked in the county jail in November on a number of felonies, including assault on peace officers and second-degree harassment. He was held on $33,000 bond.

In a previous case, a judge found evidence El-Amin suffered from a mental disorder that prevented him from understanding his charges and assisting in his defense. The court determined in May that his competency had been restored, though he required continued treatment to maintain competency.

El-Amin's previous attorney signaled in court records he may rely on an insanity defense at trial. His most recent attorney, Nicholas Bailey, declined to comment.

Campbell did not have an attorney listed in court records who could be reached.

El-Amin has been convicted of a felony and aggravated misdemeanors and Campbell of aggravated misdemeanors, according to Iowa Department of Corrections.

In May 2011, El-Amin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for starting a fire two years earlier in the psychiatric ward of a Waterloo hospital. He pleaded guilty to second-degree arson, court records show.

At the time, El-Amin was being treated in the mental health unit at Covenant Medical Center when he lit bedding and paper on fire, according to Des Moines Register archives. No one was injured when flames spread up a wall, and hospital staff extinguished the fire before it caused major damage.

In January 2007, Des Moines police arrested El-Amin after he called the emergency room of a Des Moines hospital and threatened to bomb the air ambulance, authorities said.

Officials said El-Amin was not satisfied with the service he received at the hospital.

As an inmate, records show that El-Amin has been accused of assaulting jail staff.

In March 2015, he was jailed for one year after he pleaded guilty to assault by an inmate. At the Polk County Jail, El-Amin wiped his blood on a detention officer after his finger was poked during a blood sugar check, officials said.

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Then in May, El-Amin — restrained in a waist chain and handcuffs — lowered his jail-issued pants and urinated on a detention officer, authorities said. He pleaded guilty to assault on a peace officer causing bodily injury or mental illness.

As for Campbell, he was jailed for a year after he pleaded guilty to possessing meth when he was arrested earlier this year for fifth-degree theft at the Hy-Vee on Court Avenue in downtown Des Moines. In those records, police called Campbell homeless.

In January 2017, Campbell was charged with harassment after he threatened to shoot a senior officer while he was under arrest at Des Moines police headquarters, making comments that he hoped she would die, according to charging documents. He pleaded guilty to harassment and assault on a peace officer.

A preliminary hearing for Campbell, who authorities have also listed as living at residences in Des Moines and Mount Pleasant, was set for Monday on the sexual abuse charge. A status conference in El-Amin's case was set for Dec. 21.

The men were court ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim. If convicted of the class B felony, both would face up to 25 years in prison.

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