“Any police department (or university faculty, or military unit, etc.) is only as good as the worst psycho they tolerate.” ~ H/T RedStateRocker
No More Hesitation Targets
Posted on 12/20/2021 6:04:06 AM PST by servo1969
BLACKFOOT, Idaho — The sheriff of Bingham County is facing felony charges after investigators say he pulled a gun on a group of girls, dragged their youth group leader out of her car by her hair, and threatened to shoot her while holding a gun to her head.
The Idaho Attorney General's Office on Tuesday charged Sheriff Craig Rowland with aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and exhibition of a deadly weapon.
Rowland told Blackfoot Police Chief Scott Gay that he had "really screwed up" during the Nov. 9 confrontation, which happened after a youth group came to his door.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the seven girls, ages 12 to 16, were delivering paper "thankful turkeys" to people around the neighborhood as part of a youth group activity.
The girls would deliver the turkey thank-you notes by taping them to a recipient's door, ringing the doorbell, and running away before the person inside could see who had left the note.
Rowland told investigators that at about 8 p.m., his Yorkie began to bark so he went outside and saw two people running away from his house.
According to the affidavit, the girls returned to their youth leader's car giggling, and told her they had tried to leave the turkey, but had nearly been caught by Craig Rowland so had been unable to deliver it. The group delivered another "thankful turkey" to a house nearby, then returned to the sheriff's home to try again.
Rowland told police that a few minutes after he had seen people running away from his house, his Ring doorbell activated and he heard his front door rattle.
The sheriff said he got his gun, and stepped outside wearing long johns and socks.
The woman supervising the youth group told investigators that the girls returned to her car after leaving the turkey, and she was driving away past the sheriff's home when she saw Rowland standing in the road waving her down.
The youth group leader stopped and opened her car door, illuminating the inside of the car where the seven girls were sitting, and told Rowland that they had just been dropping something off for his wife.
She said Rowland looked into the car, pointed his gun at her, then pointed it at two girls sitting in the front passenger seat. The sheriff then aimed the gun back at her, the woman said, and told her to "get the f-- out of the car," the woman reported.
As she moved to put the vehicle in park, the woman said, Rowland grabbed her by the hair, yanked her from the car, and aimed his gun at her face, holding it just inches from her forehead.
Multiple girls inside the car reported hearing the sheriff ask the woman who she was and say "I will f----shoot you," according to investigators.
The youth group leader, who grew up in the house next to Rowland and considered him a family friend, said she told Rowland her name and that she was his neighbor, but added that the words did not seem to register.
"That's when I really got scared because the gun was still at my head and he didn‘t know who was," she said, according to the affidavit.
Rowland told police that he did not recognize the woman but she was "terrified," and that he ultimately told her to "get the f--- out of here."
The sheriff admitted to investigators that he had pulled the woman out of her car by the hair and pointed a gun at her, demonstrating aiming it at her head or neck, according to the affidavit.
Rowland said he had had one alcoholic drink earlier in the night, but was not drunk or impaired.
"I had all of my facilities with me, I was clear as a freakin bell," he told investigators.
Rowland told investigators that the recent time change had "really messed me up" and said he was on edge because of interactions he and his wife previously had with members of the community.
"I have been doing this job for 36 years. I've had drunk Indians drive down my cul-de-sac. I've had drunk Indians come to my door," he said. "I live just off the reservation, we have a lot of reservation people around us who are not good people."
Investigators with the attorney general's office reviewed footage captured by the sheriff's Ring doorbell camera, including a video that shows the girls taping the turkey to the door and running away.
In the video, Rowland steps outside, looks at the note, and appears to read the words "thank you" aloud.
"That's frickin' bullsh--," the sheriff says in the video, before calling to his wife to "get my gun."
The Idaho Attorney General's Office was called in to investigate and prosecute the case to avoid any conflict of interest with the Bingham County Prosecutor's Office. A summons was issued for Rowland on Tuesday.
Rowland remains the elected sheriff of Bingham County, but agreed to take a leave of absence after the investigation started, according to East Idaho News.
Shoshone-Bannock tribe spokesman Devon Boyer called the sheriff's comments about Native Americans "extremely offensive." No tribal members were involved in the incident, the tribe said.
“We ask Rowland to officially step down as Sheriff and offer a public apology to the Fort Hall community," Boyer said in a Thursday statement. “We hope the woman and the children involved will be able to heal from this traumatic incident. This incident should not have occurred but proves racism still exists. We need major relationship building between our communities.”
The sheriff previously generated controversy in 2016 when he said that a statewide bill to streamline the collection and tracking of rape kits was unnecessary because most reports of sexual assault are untrue.
Aggravated battery carries a possible 15-year prison sentence, while aggravated assault is punishable by up to five years.
Rowland is due to appear in court Dec. 22 for an initial appearance.
No - Biden voter
The Shoshone-Bannock reservation lies between Pocatello and Blackfoot. The land where Pocatello and Chubbuck are located is a "carve out" from the reservation. I see kids from the "res" often at the Deleta Skating rink on Friday nights. They are part of the community. Are there problems? Sure. The "res" is "dry" no alcohol permitted. Beer runs (theft of beer by minors from the local shop and rob) are the principal incidents. Car theft as well.
I suspect there will be a special election soon for a replacement sheriff.
Perhaps she learned something from this. In reality, probably not. I would think that would smart, getting pulled out of a vehicle by the hair of one’s head. The Jack Boot Lickers and holster polishers haven’t chimed in yet saying he should have shot her and she deserved to be shot.
You are right. People are crazy. It is best to leave them alone. His one drink was probably a fifth.
Shame this particular sheriff wasn't one of the ones shot and killed. A douchenozzle like him should never be allowed a gun and a badge.
So standing outside in the street in your underwear waving your gun around is how you protect yourself from being “ambushed, shot, beaten......”?
He should, but he won’t. The case will be thrown out of court on court day.
“Not smart by the youth group leader.”
Exactly. If I found any of our youth group leaders had pulled a stupid stunt like this with my kids...there would be no more youth group for them until that youth leader was relieved of duty. You just don’t go to someone’s door after dark, ring the bell and run. I don’t care how “nice” the note is left on the door. Too many ruses used now days to get into someone’s home for nefarious purposes.
Now... did the sheriff overreact? Yep.
Here is a good one for you Nully. You seen this one yet?
“Any police department (or university faculty, or military unit, etc.) is only as good as the worst psycho they tolerate.” ~ H/T RedStateRocker
No More Hesitation Targets
From the posted article:
In the video, Rowland steps outside, looks at the note, and appears to read the words "thank you" aloud.
It’s a ball on confusion, that’s what the world is today...Temptations 1970
I’ll drink to that...and the great music.
Sorry...ball OF confusion..
Oh, good grief. This guy doesn't know when to shut up.
He’s off the reservation himself. On the bright side, he won’t have to worry about re-election.
“The girls would deliver the turkey thank-you notes by taping them to a recipient’s door, ringing the doorbell, and running away before the person inside could see who had left the note.”
That sounds like a really dumb idea.
“I’m with you! And how many officers have been been shot.....and killed! I stand with this sheriff!”
I plan on retiring to Idaho. And if in the unlikely event I ever see a crazed lunatic in his underwear waving a gun at a carload of little girls, yanking on a woman by her hair, and threatening her with death I will absolutely not hesitate to take the legal and lawful action (in Idaho) of hosing him down with as much .308 as it takes to end the threat to innocent people.
Idaho Statute 19-202A
https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title19/T19CH2/SECT19-202A/
Let me be clear here; this idiot with a badge committed several felonies and in the State of Idaho it was and is utterly legal and morally commendable to end the lives of such idiots.
Also, you may have glossed over the part where the woman he assaulted and threatened to murder was his next door neighbor who no doubt ‘stood with’ him too. And it made no difference to a SOB who thinks he’s special because of a piece of shiny metal he carries around.
Meaning that just because you stand with him and excuse his egregious and felonious acts doesn’t mean he wouldn’t hesitate to do the exact same thing to you. This jerk obviously holds the laws of the State of Idaho in contempt and I sincerely hope he ends up convicted of a felony so that he can no longer carry a badge or a firearm.
He is a clear and present danger to himself and to others.
Pardon me if I’m also suspect of your own judgment here.
Thank you kindly for the ping. This guy is definitely among the worst. Just imagine what his department has been doing under this kind of ‘leadership’?
That sounds like a really dumb idea.
Given the Sheriff's temperament, and hair-brained, hair-trigger immediate lethal force reaction, ringing the doorbell and sticking around for him to answer would have been the really dumb idea.
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