Cowell shuts down two more felons
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March 12, 2014 |
On
August 29, 2012, Bonners Ferry Police
Officer Willie Cowell, during a routine traffic
stop, made the biggest heroin bust ever in the
state of Idaho, taking 8.1 pounds of the drug
off the street and sending two to prison on
federal charges. On Tuesday, he pulled off his
second "once in a career" arrest.
"This is a career case for an officer," then new
police chief Steve Benkula said after two
felons, one a suspect in a homicide, were taken
off the streets in the 2012 arrest. "It doesn't
happen often."
Cowell was on patrol at 6:30 a.m. when he saw a
traffic violation. He pulled the rig over on
Highway 95 at Sunrise Road on the North Hill,
and almost immediately, he recognized that this
stop was going to anything but routine.
While he chatted with the driver, he saw, in
plain view, what looked to his trained eye to be
methamphetamines. When he ran the
identification, he learned that one of the men
in the vehicle, Kenneth Flowerdew, 46, Coeur
d'Alene, was on felony probation.
Cowell called for backup and went back to the
car to make an arrest, but when he did,
Flowerdew allegedly attacked him, forcing Cowell
to deploy his taser to bring the man under
control. Within moments, a U.S. Border Patrol
Agent on the Boundary County Drug Task Force
arrived to help, and an off-duty Bonner County
sheriff's deputy on his way to work saw the
altercation and stopped to help.
When Flowerdew and his compatriot, 33-year-old
Richard Allen, also of the Coeur d'Alene area,
were both safely restrained and in custody, the
substance Cowell had initially spotted tested
positive, and background checks showed that both
men are considered career habitual offenders.
Allen was charged with felony possession of a
controlled substance and possession of
paraphernalia. Flowerdew was charged with
possession of a controlled substance and assault
and battery on a peace officer, both felonies,
as well as resisting arrest.
Both men remain in custody at the Boundary
County jail on $100,000 bond each, and another
new Bonners Ferry Police Chief, Bob Boone, is
duly impressed with the caliber of officer he
has in Willie Cowell.
"He's a street monster," Boone said. "I
love him!"
After the morning's excitement, Cowell went to
Boundary Community Hospital, where he was
treated for minor injuries he sustained in the
fight and released to finish his shift and go
home, once again, to his family, with two
dangerous felons safely behind bars where they
are no longer a threat to the community.
For a dedicated peace officer, there's no better
outcome. |
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