Anchorage Daily News
Updated: 1 hour ago Published: 1 hour ago
A retired Soldotna police officer who was charged with assaulting a family member last year was acquitted last month.
A Kenai jury acquitted David Bauer of fourth-degree assault on June 28 after a four-day trial.
Bower, 51, was arrested in July 2023 after relatives told Alaska State Troopers that the suspect had punched them to the ground and choked them, according to a criminal complaint filed at the time. The suspect told investigators he was intoxicated at the time, according to the complaint.
According to an affidavit filed in the charging document, Bauer told investigating officers that he “immediately reacted violently” to the slap, slapping the man and knocking him to the floor.
According to jury instructions handed down during the trial, in order for the jury to convict Bauer, they had to find that he recklessly caused injury to another person and that he did not act in self-defense.
The Soldotna Police Department said last year that Bower was placed on paid administrative leave when the charges were filed, and his last day with the department was April 1 of this year, according to City Manager Janet Bower, who is no relation to the former officer.
Bower retired from the Soldotna Police Department in April after 20 years with the department, according to attorney Andy Pivhouse, who represented Bower in the trial. Pivhouse said Bower had worked as a police officer in Montana before moving to Alaska.
“The Soldotna Police Department assisted him throughout this case and his retirement is in no way related to the charges,” he said in an email Monday.
Prosecutors involved in the case did not respond to requests for comment.
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