Austin teen charged with BB gun assault
Published 7:58 am Thursday, March 7, 2019
Casey David Rowe, 18, of Austin was charged with two counts of felony second-degree assault-dangerous weapon, misdemeanor possession of over 1.4 grams of marijuana in a motor vehicle and misdemeanor driving after revocation of his license on Wednesday in Mower County District Court.
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Casey David Rowe, 18
According to the court complaint, police were called at 9:43 p.m. on Monday about a fight at the Austin Walmart. Dispatch advised a suspect vehicle, a tan sport utility vehicle, had fled east on 18th Avenue Northwest.
The driver was described as a white male wearing an orange stocking cap. An officer stopped the suspect vehicle on Fourth Street Northwest and identified Rowe as the driver. A juvenile male and adult female were also in the vehicle.
The juvenile said there were two loaded BB pistols in the vehicle. All subjects were removed from the car and searched. The juvenile also advised there was marijuana in the vehicle.
The juvenile told police he had met with an adult male, E.G., and another juvenile male in the Walmart parking lot with the intention of selling them marijuana. He said E.G. got into the backseat of the car and tried to pay with a fake $100 bill, so he told him to get out. He then said E.G. punched him in the head and neck from the backseat and the juvenile with E.G. opened the driver’s side door in an attempt to assault him. He then told Rowe, who was in the front passenger seat, to show the BB gun, which resembled a Glock pistol, to scare E.G. out of the vehicle. He then told Rowe to shoot E.G. and Rowe fired two shots at him. He denied Rowe hit E.G. and said he was dragged from the car and assaulted some more before E.G. and the juvenile left in a white Ford Sedan. He admitted to pulling out the other pistol during the altercation, but claimed he did not remember if he fired it.
Police spoke to Rowe, who corroborated the juvenile’s story, though he said he did not believe he hit E.G. and that the juvenile had fired at E.G. before he did.
The female in the vehicle with Rowe told police E.G. gave the juvenile a fake $100 bill and then tried to grab the marijuana, prompting the juvenile to tell him to “get the (expletive) out of the vehicle.” She confirmed the juvenile told Rowe to shoot E.G. during the assault, but did not recall the juvenile firing any shots.
Police searched the vehicle and found six CO2 cartridges. Rowe was found to be in possession of 11.5 grams of marijuana, while the juvenile was found to be in possession of nine grams of marijuana and a digital scale.
An officer responded to Mayo Clinic Health System-Austin after E.G. arrived with BB wounds. E.G. told police he was walking on Second Avenue Southeast toward the Freedom gas station when a car pulled up and the occupants attempted to rob him. He said they shot him in the face with BB guns, but was unable to give a description of the vehicle.
Police then talked to the juvenile who had been with E.G. during the incident. He corroborated E.G.’s story, but then changed his story when the officer told him they knew about the Walmart incident, saying “the guy in the passenger seat” shot E.G. in the upper lip.
The officer re-interviewed E.G., who admitted he had been at Walmart trying to buy marijuana with a counterfeit bill, which resulted in a fight and him getting shot.
A doctor at MCHS classified E.G.’s injuries (soft tissue wounds to the right temple, right cheek, left lateral neck, left ear and left temporal scalp) as “bodily harm.”
Rowe will appear in court again on March 18.