COLDWATER, Mich. — Willam Lee Sowards, 36, should have been in jail Sunday morning. Instead, he is in the Branch County Jail charged with a 10-year felony for breaking into the Coldwater golf course clubhouse building at 270 Narrows Road.
Prosecutor Zack Stempien told Magistrate Val White he was prepared to file charges against Sowards for another break-in at a downtown Coldwater computer store.
“The defendant has caused continuous havoc in our community,” Stempien said.
White told Sowards, “The court has been made aware of multiple law enforcement agencies having information regarding possible criminal behavior by you.”
White set bond on the breaking and entering at $100,000 at Stempien’s request.
The burglar alarm at the business, which also houses Bill’s Grill, sounded at 5:18 a.m. Responding Michigan State Police troopers found a glass door smashed.
Security footage pulled up by owner Kevin Wischmeyer showed a balding white male wearing black jeans and a jacket with a bandana over his face entering the store.
A police radio broadcast went out with the description. Coldwater Police Sgt. Matt Schoenauer identified the suspect as Sowards.
CPD arrested Sowards Friday on a bench warrant that District Judge Brent Weigle issued for a bond violation in pending domestic violence cases.
Stempien said since the jail refused to take Sowards, he was released.
Undersheriff Keith Eichler said Tuesday a warrant was issued for Sowards on Feb. 5. Coldwater Police had numerous contacts with him. On Friday, CPD officers tried to lodge him for failure to appear. Eichler said if informed it was for domestic violence he would have been lodged.
The MSP K-9 unit tracked the suspect from the golf course down Narrows Road. The dog lost the track, but a motorist told troopers he had picked up the bald white male near Burch Road and dropped him at the Shell gas station at U.S. 12 and Western Avenue.
Officers spotted him next door by Biggby Coffee. He was wearing the same clothes in the video. The tread on his boots matched those at the golf course.
The K-9 located a backpack with the bandana. Sowards had $177 on him. The cash register was stolen, along with $360 cash inside.
Sowards also faced two domestic violence charges against the mother of his two children on Dec. 19 and July 14. He is also accused of dragging a woman across the pavement near Snyder’s Laundry on Oct. 1.
Sowards also faces charges of retail theft and receiving and concealing stolen property in other district court cases.
Feb. 24 was set for a probable cause hearing. His preliminary exam is scheduled for March 3.
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