BOISE, Idaho — In response to pending charges against Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland, the mayor of Blackfoot Marc Carroll and the Blackfoot Police Department issued a statement Wednesday asking Rowland to resign immediately and publicly apologize to the Fort Hall community.
Rowland 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 on Nov. 9.
The Idaho Attorney General's Office on Tuesday charged Sheriff Craig Rowland with aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and exhibition of a deadly weapon.
In the statement Carroll said Rowland's actions "had significant and wide-ranging effects on our community" and "a trusted Law Enforcement has admitted to physically assaulting a neighbor and threatening her with his service handgun."
Carroll also said "in order to protect the integrity of our law enforcement agencies, the City of Blackfoot and the Blackfoot Police Department call for the immediate resignation and public apology to the Fort Hall community by Sheriff Craig Rowland."
Rowland told Blackfoot Police Chief Scott Gay that he had "really screwed up" during the 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 were delivering 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 after the girls left the turkey, Rowland stood in the road and waved the car down after driving past his home.
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 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."
In the statement released Wednesday by the city of Blackfoot and Carroll, the mayor said Rowland's comments about members of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes were "repulsive."
"The City of Blackfoot and its Police Department have a highly valued relationship with the Tribes and we find Sheriff Rowland's comments to be repulsive," Carroll said. "His comments do not in any way reflect the city's nor the Blackfoot Police Department's attitudes towards our neighbors at Fort Hall."
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.”
KTVB also received a statement from the Idaho Sheriff's Association on the situation from executive director Jeff Lavey. ISA asks Rowland - who is a past president of ISA - to not represent himself as a board member pending charges.
ISA's full statement is included below.
"The Idaho Sheriffs Association is a non-profit entity with no law enforcement authority. Each Sheriff in Idaho (ISA) is elected by and serves the citizens within their respective counties. The ISA does not have jurisdiction or control over any individual Sheriff or his/her office.
Sheriff Craig Rowland is a past President of the Idaho Sheriffs Association and has served on the ISA Board of Directors. As Executive Director, I have reached out to Sheriff Rowland and asked him to not represent himself as an ISA board member pending an outcome of his current criminal charges that have been brought against him.
We recognize that the crimes alleged are alarming, but all citizens are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Sheriff Rowland is afforded due process under the law just like any other citizen. It is our position as an association that the judicial system needs to be allowed to play its role through the adjudication process."
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.
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