Iowa hate crimes suspect got breaks after earlier arrests
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/JDXSAIH37BP3ZPD37NXQQNWH74.jpg)
Published: Dec. 27, 2019 at 12:03 PM CST
The Iowa woman charged in a string of racially-motivated attacks this month managed to avoid prison in recent years after arrests for previous violent crimes and threats.
Nicole Poole Franklin is charged with intentionally driving her SUV into a Hispanic girl and a black boy near Des Moines-area schools in separate hit-and-run crashes on Dec. 9. She's also charged with using racial epithets that day at a gas station.
In 2017, Poole Franklin was charged with stabbing her then-boyfriend while she was on probation. But a felony charge was dismissed after the alleged victim refused to cooperate.
Charges alleging she assaulted and harassed another boyfriend in 2018 were dismissed after he also declined to cooperate.