Former Soldotna police officer acquitted of domestic violence assault charges

A retired Soldotna police officer accused of assaulting a family member last year was acquitted of those charges last month.

A Kenai jury found David Bower not guilty of fourth-degree assault on June 28 after a four-day trial.

Bower, 51, was arrested in July 2023 after a relative told Alaska State Troopers that he knocked them down and put them in a headlock, according to criminal charges filed at the time. Bower told an investigator that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time, charges said.

Bower told the investigating trooper that he was slapped, which “provoked an immediate violent response” from him that involved slapping the other person, knocking them to the floor, according to a sworn affidavit filed with charges.

To find him guilty, jurors would have needed to find Bower recklessly caused injury to another person, and did not do so in self-defense, according to jury instructions handed down during the trial.

Bower was placed on paid leave when the charges were filed, the Soldotna Police Department said last year. His last day of employment with the department was April 1 of this year, according to city manager Janette Bower, who is not related to the former officer.

Bower retired in April after reaching 20 years of service with Soldotna police, according to attorney Andy Pevehouse, who represented him during the trial. Bower worked as an officer in Montana before moving to Alaska, Pevehouse said.

“The Soldotna Police Department has backed him throughout this ordeal and his retirement had nothing to do with his charges,” he said in an email Monday.

A prosecutor involved in the case did return a request for comment.