Initial investigation finds only simple assault. After further investigation, it was discovered victim had been stabbed.

By Gary Dickson, Editor – Siouxland Observer

A North Sioux City man was charged on Sept. 5 with two counts of felony aggravated assault by officers from the North Sioux City Police Department.

Larry Noboru, 29, was arrested on Sept. 5 by North Sioux City Police for what began as a simple domestic assault investigation that allegedly occurred at 605 Streeter Drive, Apartment 7, in North Sioux City on Aug. 29.

According to court records, NSC Police Sergeant Jesse Henrichs was investigating the alleged assault on Aug. 30 and initially concluded that the assault did not result in any serious bodily injury to the victim, Lovelynn Aunu, the perpetrator’s significant other. Sergeant Henrichs wrote in his affidavit that the victim did have “considerable injury to her face which included swelling and bruising to both eyes, scratches and bruises on her face and head, cuts and bruising on the inside of her mouth, scratches on her neck and bruises on her lower legs.” He said emergency medical services were called to the scene and Aunu’s injuries were checked out, but she refused transport to a medical care facility.

Sgt. Henrichs noted that the victim did not speak English very well and . . . “was extremely hesitant to open up to officers, in the fullest extent, about what had occurred between she and [Noboru].” The officer said the victim’s aunt, who called in the original report, assisted with the translation and urged Aunu to divulge more information. The victim left with her aunt and agreed to stay with her at her aunt’s residence in Rock Rapids, Iowa. Sgt. Henrichs stated he asked the aunt to urge her niece to seek medical care for her injuries.

According to court records, on Aug. 31 Henrichs received an email from Woodbury County Dispatch requesting he place a call to the victim’s aunt. He said he called the aunt back when he returned to work on Sept. 2. She informed the officer that she took her niece to Avera Hospital in Rock Rapids on Aug. 31. There they discovered Aunu had a stab wound on her upper left leg. Henrichs said the aunt sent him a photo of the stab wound that was time and date-stamped.

The officer said he had no knowledge the victim was suffering from a stab wound during his investigation on Aug. 30. However, he said in his affidavit that the aunt pointed out a knife to him that was lying on a dresser in the upstairs bedroom of the apartment. He said, “Due to not having knowledge that Lovelynn was suffering from a stab wound, I did not collect the knife as evidence.”

Henrichs stated he then contacted a Lyon County, Iowa deputy sheriff and requested they conduct a follow-up interview with the victim and her aunt at the aunt’s residence in Rock Rapids. Two Lyon County deputies interviewed the two women and sent a report to Sgt. Henrichs. In the report, the deputies said the aunt told them that Noboru didn’t intend to injure Aunu, just intimidate her. But he did stab her niece, the aunt said, “with a straight stabbing motion, with the tip of the knife going into her left leg.” The aunt believed the knife was still in the apartment, as well as some blood-stained women’s clothes.

The aunt said she would continue to encourage Aunu to cooperate with law enforcement and to release her medical records to them as well as divulge more information about the event. She indicated her niece may not fully cooperate with authorities because she was afraid of retaliation by Noboru. She said Noboru had made videos of the victim performing sexual acts on him and had threatened to send them out.

Henrichs was able to secure a search warrant requesting to search 605 Streeter Dr., Apt. 7 for the knife allegedly used in the assault as well as a pile of blood-stained women’s clothes. The search warrant was executed on Sept. 3 at 1:29 p.m. with officers Andrew Ryan, Isaac Wodtke, Chief Rich Headid and Henrichs. Noboru was not at home initially. The officers located several clothing items, a towel, a blanket and a knife. Toward the end of the search, Noboru and his mother arrived home. Noboru was detained in handcuffs and read his Miranda Warning. According to court records, Noboru waived his rights and agreed to talk to Henrichs. The officer brought him up to date on the information that had been found since the initial investigation regarding the victim’s knife wound and the evidence they were looking for under the search warrant.

According to Heinrich’s affidavit, Noboru denied the accusation and said Aunu stabbed herself in what he described as “an accident.” The alleged perpetrator admitted that he did hold a towel against Aunu’s leg to stop the bleeding. He later said that he washed that towel as well as two blood-stained skirts, but denied that he did so because of knowing law enforcement was coming over to his apartment. Upon seeing the knife the police found, Noboru said it was the knife his significant other had used to harm herself. He said he had moved it from the upstairs bedroom to the kitchen to wash the blood from it, “and he did not want his mother to use it to cut food.”

Noboru was then arrested and transported to the Union County Jail. His initial hearing was held on Sept. 6 where he was charged with two felony counts:

• 22-18-1.1(2) Domestic Aggravated Assault – Bodily injury with Weapon (F3)
• 22-18-1.1(5) Domestic Aggravated Assault – Deadly Weapon (F3)

The defendant was given a $10,000 cash or surety bond. He must vacate his residence and not have any contact with the alleged victim. His next court appearance will be Sept. 19 at 9:00 a.m.

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Editor’s Note – The alleged perpetrator in this story is assumed innocent until proven guilty.

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