Owner charged with stabbing and brawl at Iowa City venue

Record: She “made no effort or attempt to prevent conduct” that posed a threat

The owner of an Iowa City nightclub has been charged with domestic battery, a simple misdemeanor, after two women were stabbed at the club on Sunday.

Adesola Miller, 31, of Iowa City, is the owner of The Haven, which describes itself as a smoothie and juice bar and event venue. Two women were stabbed at the venue around 1am on Sunday. Then, around 2:30 a.m., a fight between 20 and 30 people broke out in The Haven, according to a criminal complaint.

Miller was present at both incidents and “made no effort or attempt to prevent conduct that threatened personal injury and property damage,” the complaint states.

Lacey Larie Bode, 35, of Iowa City, was arrested Monday in connection with the stabbings. She was charged with two counts of willful bodily harm and one count each of armed activity with intent, assault with the display of a dangerous weapon and assault with the display of a dangerous weapon on a pregnant person.

Police officers near the venue were notified of the stabbing shortly before Miller, and officers were later called there again by Haven Security to help break up the fighting.

This is the second time Miller has been charged with trespassing. At 3:30 a.m. on August 4, Miller hosted a party at The Haven with loud music heard in the alley. There were about 50 people inside the building and 20 people gathered outside, and Miller had been warned several times in the past about the noise coming from the building, a complaint said.

Miller pleaded guilty to the home rule charge in September and was fined $105.

The Haven is located at 220 S Van Buren St., in the same building that formerly housed H-Bar, a hookah lounge that has been the subject of a number of police calls in the past, including a fight ended with a woman being shot several times and seriously injured in the alley in front of the venue on August 7, 2022.

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