Opinion : Vinton man's latest round in court finds him guilty of taking off with winnings

A Vinton man's latest charges didn't bring the "whoo hoo!" that you hear in the commercials for lottery winners. Then again, Logan Steven Moody, 23 of Vinton may have heard that in his head. In reality, it brought the sound of a jail cell door slamming behind him, again.

Moody was arrested for cashing in another person's winnings at the Isle Casino in Waterloo. Charged with a "False Claim of Winnings" he faces a felony charge for an incident that occurred on October 1, 2022. A woman from Amana had been playing a machine and left it briefly, tipping her chair which signals that she planned to return.

Moody then approached the machine, collected the winnings, cashed out and left. The incident was captured on casino security cameras.

Moody is no stranger to arrests resulting from committing crimes in several counties.

Just last year, he was charged with an incident that occurred on May 3, 2022, where he was charged with Burglary in the 3rd Degree of a motor vehicle, a Class D Felony. In another incident on May 6, 2022, he was charged with Theft in the 2nd Degree, Burglary in the 3rd Degree, with a $5,000 bond and violation of probation out of Tama County.

On June 4, he was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault, impeding flow of air/blood an aggravated misdemeanor a Class D Felony.

September 11, he was charged with criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree, a Simple Misdemeanor in Benton County.

Now we get to the October 1st incident that occurred where he was charged with Gambling, false claim of winnings, and on October 2, he was charged with 2nd Degree Theft and Burglary in the 3rd Degree - Motor Vehicle. The month isn't over yet, on October 24, he was charged with Theft in the 2nd Degree, October 29, 2nd Degree Theft

Still pending is a case from November 2, where he was charged with Theft 1st Degree, Dominion/Control of Firearm/off weapon domestic abuse, and possession of a controlled substance. In this case, he stole a car from a repair shop in Coralville The owner was able to locate it, and called officers who tracked it down. Moody then fled the scene. Officers tracked him again at which point Moody reached into his waistband and made the motion of pulling out a gun, and pointed a "finger gun" at officers. The officers later found marijuana and meth which he admitted to. He also admitted to stealing $1,500 of sound equipment from a truck and selling it. Fog lights were also reported missing from the vehicle which initiated the chase. On November 3, he was charged with interference with official acts.

I can see how police officers can be discouraged in their jobs. I also see the need to build more jails and implement some sort of programs to get folks sober and give them some sort of counseling to rehabilitate them before turning them loose again.

As I read through this rap sheet, and this left out all the times he was stopped on traffic violations, my respect for police officers increased yet again. The job that these men and women do, every day, deals with repeat offenders like this guy. Hopefully, for Moody, he figured out how to be good, but chances are, unless something major changes, we'll keep hearing from him.

Thank you, officers, for continuing to catch the bad guys, over and over. Thank you to the judges who continue to lock these folks up, even if it appears to only be a time-out.

The story isn't that this guy ripped off a gal at a casino. It's that you need to watch your stuff, lock your doors. It's also that you need to thank an officer for keeping our streets and our lives safe.