Polk County judge keeps Des Moines bar owner Steve McFadden's restraining order in place

A Polk County judge has upheld a restraining order Des Moines bar owner Steve McFadden obtained in June 2022 against a former girlfriend he was convicted of assaulting.

Judge Paul Scott said Victoria Davis and her attorney did not present sufficient evidence to cancel or amend the order, though Davis sought to have it lifted or changed.

In January 2022, McFadden, 53, took a plea deal in a felony case that allowed him to be convicted of misdemeanor assault causing injury. He was accused of beating and injuring Davis, a waitress who worked for him and whom he dated on and off for years.

More: Des Moines tavern owner gets deferred judgment on assault charges

In a dispute at his West Des Moines home in September 2021, police said McFadden knocked Davis to the floor and choked her until she lost consciousness. He also was accused of kicking her and dragging her across the floor by her hair.

The plea deal resulted in probation and a deferred judgment, meaning the conviction could be stricken from McFadden's record if he abided by the terms of his probation.

The judge’s move this week came after McFadden and Davis broke the restraining order over the New Year’s Eve holiday to go on a trip together to Key West, Florida. After another fight in Key West, Davis filed a police report accusing McFadden of assaulting her again, which McFadden denies.

In a Watchdog column in February, Davis described what she called a toxic relationship, the abuse she said she suffered while with McFadden, a PTSD diagnosis and her reasons for breaking the restraining order.

McFadden and his criminal lawyers, William Kutmus and Trever Hook, declined requests at the time for a sit-down interview, though McFadden has communicated through emails since.

More: Woman allegedly beaten by bar owner describes going back to him, says it was a mistake

In a lengthy email sent Thursday, McFadden, an owner in Tipsy Crow, Grumpy Goat and Dough Mama's Pizzeria, said he presented evidence at the two-day hearing of Davis assaulting him, as well as witnesses who described aggressive behavior by her.

“After hearing the testimony and seeing the evidence, the judge ruled without delay that I need to remain the protected party in order to be safe from Victoria Davis,” he wrote.

Kutmus said he outlined the reasons for the need for the restraining order in his opening and closing statements to the court, describing Davis as someone who could be fun, sweet and joyful but also meanspirited, jealous and violent.

Among the evidence McFadden submitted to the court was a TikTok video in which Davis said she had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Angela Campbell, who represented Davis, said she and Davis disagree with most of McFadden’s representation of what happened at the hearing, but not the outcome.

“Because we do not think this is the end of litigation between these two individuals, I do not want to make specific additional comments at this time,” Campbell wrote in an email.

McFadden said in his email that the reason he took an Alford plea in the previous assault case involving Davis in 2021 was to make sure he would qualify for a $1.2 million Small Business Administration loan for which he would be disqualified if he still faced felony charges.

McFadden currently faces allegations of stalking and violating a no-contact order involving another ex-girlfriend he dated after Davis.

He was charged in January with one count of stalking, an aggravated misdemeanor, and five counts of unauthorized use of a GPS tracking device, all serious misdemeanors, after he was accused of planting a global positioning device in the ex-girlfriend's car.

McFadden also is accused of conspiring with Edwin Allen III, owner of Zora Bar & Rooftop on Ingersoll Avenue, to track the woman to Paws and Pints, a Des Moines bar and dog park.

Court records show McFadden reportedly called the ex-girlfriend the day before he was scheduled to plead not guilty in Polk County District Court, and she recognized his number and reported the contact.

A hearing has been scheduled April 12 on the alleged violation of her no-contact order against him in that case.

Earlier in March, McFadden dismissed libel and defamation lawsuits he filed last year against several people who criticized him on social media.

The move to drop the lawsuits came after the defendants had asked a Polk County judge to dismiss the cases, brought on behalf of McFadden by his civil attorney, David Leitner, who now is facing disbarment on ethical issues involving unrelated cases.

McFadden filed the lawsuits in early May 2022 against Breanna Ghazali, Sydney Houston, Connor Hayes, Austin Veal, Jennie Crawford, Molly Pins, Erika Parker, Nathan Hegwood and Dale Rinderman, alleging they had harmed his businesses and reputation with statements they made against him online.

Leitner said they called McFadden derogatory names and urged people to boycott his businesses, which caused him "substantial emotional turmoil."

Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8549, on Twitter at @leerood or on Facebook at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Judge keeps Des Moines bar owner's restraining order in place