BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped an assault charge filed against an Iowa man more than 20 years ago. Forty-one-year-old Dawarn Moncrief turned up as a passenger in a car stopped Aug. 30 in Burlington for an illegal license plate. He was arrested on drug charges unrelated to the June 27, 1998, stabbing of another man in Burlington.

The Hawk Eye reports that prosecutor Justin Stonerook told the court in a filing last week that many of the witnesses have died or moved away and can’t be found, making it impossible to prove the assault charge.
Moncrief is awaiting trial later this month on new assault charges and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 4 on convictions for the drug possession charges filed after his Aug. 30 arrest.