BLACKFOOT — A magistrate judge ruled Wednesday there was probable cause for the case against Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland to move to district court.

Judge Faren Z. Eddins reached his decision after listening to testimony from the victim in the case and the detective who investigated Rowland for the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.

Rowland is charged with aggravated battery, aggravated assault and unlawful exhibition or use of a deadly weapon. He was charged after a November incident in which Rowland admits pointing a gun at a woman who was chaperoning girls from a church youth group.

The adult chaperone testified during the preliminary hearing that she and the seven girls had been delivering hand-shaped turkey cards, one of which was for Rowland’s wife. Rowland reportedly confronted her with a gun after the girls left a card on his door.

The adult victim said she was driving away when Rowland waved her down while holding a gun. She said she stopped to explain they were just leaving the card, but that he began yelling at her to get out of her car.

“(He) pointed (the gun) at me, then to the passenger seat, then back at me,” the adult victim said. The victim had earlier said two of the girls with her had been sitting in the front seat.

The victim said she turned to put her car into park, and that Rowland pulled her by her hair, telling her “I said get out of the (expletive) car.”

She testified that Rowland held the gun pointed at her a couple inches from her head and said “I’ll (expletive) shoot you.”

“I felt not sure what was happening,” the victim said, adding that she did not attempt to resist Rowland. She said Rowland never identified himself as law enforcement or explained why he pulled her out of the car. She said Rowland did not seem to recognize her. The adult said she had grown up next door to Rowland and known him for 20 years.

“I was worried when I noticed that he appeared, he didn’t know who I was,” the victim said. Rowland reportedly told her “Don’t ever do that to me again,” and told her to leave.

Rowland had admitted to investigators that he had a drink that night, though he denied that he was intoxicated.

Since the details of the case were first reported, Rowland has faced several calls for his resignation, including from the city of Blackfoot and Blackfoot Police Department, the Fort Hall Business Council, the Bingham County Prosecutor’s Office and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge representing his own deputies. Many of those calls cited statements Rowland made to investigators that he was concerned “drunken Indians” would come to his residence.

“We have a lot of reservation people around us that are not good people,” Rowland reportedly said.

Rowland has refused to resign, with Defense Attorney Justin Oleson saying the charges against him are an attempt to remove him from office. As a condition of not being placed in jail, Rowland is not allowed to have firearms, including in his role as sheriff.

Oleson asked the adult victim if she was aware Rowland had a rule that no one is welcome at his home when his lights are off, to which she said no.

Oleson’s defense of Rowland has centered on the idea that his client’s actions were reasonable given what he knew at the time. He noted the victim later apologized to Rowland’s wife for the incident.

“You knew you shouldn’t have went and done that that night, right?” Oleson asked.

The victim responded that she did not think leaving the turkey note would be a problem. “I thought it would be OK, because it was just taping a paper to the door,” she said.

Oleson noted that the idea behind the notes was to leave them anonymously, describing the children’s approach to the home as “sneaking.”

“You try to hide so you don’t get caught, right?” Oleson asked.

“Yes,” The victim responded.

Oleson responded by saying the way of leaving the notes was “probably not a good idea, right?” prompting an objection from Deputy Attorney General Jessica Kuehn. Eddins sustained the objection.

On redirect Kuehn asked the victim if Rowland had told her that no one was welcome when his lights were off, with the victim saying no.

The prosecution called Nicholas Edwards, an investigator with the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, as its second witness.

Lead Deputy Attorney General Jeff Nye questioned Edwards about a doorbell camera belonging to Rowland that captured part of the incident.

In the videos, Rowland can be heard saying “That’s frickin’ (expletive),” after seeing the turkey card, then yelling “Get my gun.”

Oleson objected to the videos, saying they did not depict what happened between Rowland and the adult victim. Nye countered that the videos were relevant because they depict Rowland discussing the incident, which he said pointed to Rowland’s motive.

Blackfoot Police Chief Scott Gay was the third and final witness. He testified that Rowland came to his office on Nov. 10 to speak to him about the incident.

“He said that he really screwed up the night before and that he didn’t know what he was thinking,” Gay said.

Gay said Rowland told him he went out with a gun to stop a car that was driving away. Gay said Rowland admitted to grabbing the victim by the hair when he asked who she was.

“He told me that he wasn’t in his right mind and he doesn’t know what he was thinking,” Gay said.

Oleson asked Gay if he knew what Rowland meant when he said he “screwed up” and that he wasn’t in his right mind. Gay said he did not push Rowland on what he meant.

Nye closed by referring back to the victim’s statements that Rowland threatened to shoot her while pointing a gun at her, causing her to fear for her life.

Nye also said Rowland’s status as a law enforcement officer does not prevent him from being charged, saying there was no criminal activity that warranted an investigation from him.

“Idaho does not have any kind of free standing immunity to law enforcement officers,” Nye said.

Nye pointed out the victims cannot be accused of trespassing, saying knocking on someone’s door is not trespassing. He also said Rowland did not have probable cause to stop the victim’s car.

“Any hint of suspicion from someone knocking on his front door was dissipated when he saw that paper turkey, and for him to arm himself with a weapon, which he didn’t have until he saw the turkey, go out, flag down a car, point his gun at the car and pull the driver out by her hair is simply not good faith,” Nye said.

Nye went on that since Rowland did not recognize the adult victim, he could not assume she knew he was a police officer.

“For a police officer to put a woman and seven minor children through something like this without ever identifying himself as a police officer is bad faith,” Nye said.

Oleson said in his closing argument that the Idaho Attorney General’s Office does not have jurisdiction. He argued the victims had been trespassing when they approached the house, saying they opened the outer door of his house to leave the turkey card.

“They’re sneaking in, banging on doors and running away so they don’t get caught,” Oleson said. “If that’s not trespassing, I don’t know what is.”

Oleson also argued Rowland was afraid because he saw the adult victim reach to the center area of her car, which Oleson said law enforcement can interpret as reaching for a weapon. Oleson said the prosecution did not prove Rowland’s actions were improper for a law enforcement officer.

Eddins disagreed, however, in his decision to forward the case to district court.

“The court does find the state has met their burden as to each and all elements to count one and count two,” Eddins said.

A date was not set for an initial appearance in district court.

Aggravated battery is punishable with up to 15 years in prison. Aggravated assault is punishable with up to five years on prison.