Rowland pens letter accepting responsibility for November gun incident
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BLACKFOOT — In a letter filed with the court Monday morning, former Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland took responsibility for the incident that led to his eventual resignation and guilty plea.
“I accept full responsibility for the events of November 9, 2021,” the letter reads. “I made a series of decisions that will likely define my law enforcement legacy and will undoubtedly leave an impression on (the victims).”
The letter, which lays out the series of events that led to Rowland being charged with multiple felonies, was filed on the same day he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.
In the letter, Rowland recounts pointing a gun at a group of teenage girls in an LDS Church youth group.
The group, accompanied by a single adult youth group leader, was delivering “thankful turkeys” to members of a Blackfoot neighborhood. In his letter, Rowland states that the meaning of the turkey — a thank you note cut in the shape of a turkey — “did not register” in his mind.
He responded by getting a handgun and stopping the car as it exited the neighborhood.
Rowland then pointed the gun at the car, filled with the seven teenage girls and their chaperone. He then grabbed the chaperone by the hair, pulled her out of the car and held his gun to her head.
Upon learning her identity, Rowland says he let the woman go and told her to leave.
In the following weeks, several groups called for Rowland’s resignation. Among those groups was the Sho-Ban Tribes, after racially insensitive comments Rowland made during the police investigation surfaced.
Rowland did finally resign, several months later.
RELATED | UPDATE: Former sheriff to get probation, some jail time as part of plea agreement
On the same day he filed his allocution statement with the court, Rowland pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated assault as part of a plea agreement. In exchange, a felony for aggravated battery and a misdemeanor for the exhibition of a firearm was dismissed.
As part of the plea deal, Rowland has agreed to spend 10 days in jail.