Duncan man headed to prison in Cerro Gordo County intimidation with a dangerous weapon case

MASON CITY — A Duncan man is headed to prison after being arrested on multiple counts of domestic abuse and threatening a woman with a taser.

29-year-old Benjamin Mehmen was arrested by Clear Lake police on April 18th following a report made to law enforcement in late March of several incidents taking place at a residence in Clear Lake between September 2023 and January of last year. A criminal complaint says Mehmen assaulted his girlfriend in September 2023, strangling and choking her as well as stepping on her throat.

Investigators also say that during that September to January time frame that Mehmen also used a taser to threaten the victim on multiple occasions, using it to chase the victim, hold it within inches of the victim’s face and pressing the trigger to cause an electric arc that the victim could see and hear.

Mehmen was originally charged with four counts of intimidation with a dangerous weapon with the intent to injure, each charge a Class C felony, as well as domestic assault by strangulation, a Class D felony. As part of the plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to one count of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, a Class D felony, as well as one count of domestic abuse assault strangulation, an aggravated misdemeanor.

District Judge Gregg Rosenbladt sentenced Mehmen to five years in prison on the intimidation with a dangerous weapon charge and two years on the domestic abuse charge, with the sentences to run at the same time.