Concord Man Faces Cruelty To Animals, Falsifying Evidence Charges

CONCORD, NH — A Concord man, with several arrests in the city as well as Merrimack, was arrested again last month on animal cruelty and evidence charges.

Just before midnight on Sept. 23, several officers were sent to Willard Street for a report of a domestic incident. A woman accused Jason A. Rowan, 43, of throwing a cigarette at her and yelling. Before arriving at the home, dispatch learned the Rowan was accusing the woman of assaulting him with a knife.

Rowan was sitting on the front steps of the home with a cut on his forehead, according to the reporting officer's affidavit, although that officer was not the first to arrive at the scene. When asked about the cut, the officer accused Rowan of saying the woman cut him in the head because they were arguing all day — but did not know what the argument was about.

Inside the home, the officer saw a large kitchen knife with dried blood on the counter of a bathroom and a razor blade from a utility knife or box cutter in a toilet. The officer also noted blood on a blanket in the living room of the home.

Rowan, the report said, accused the woman of cutting him with the razor and said the blood on the blanket was from a dog. When asked about the dog, Rowan "stated that there was some sort of 'blister' or 'cyst' on the ear and that he cut it open to drain the fluid from it." He then wrapped up the dog's ear with a bandage and let him outside, the affidavit said. When asked if this issue was what caused the arguing, Rowan "stated it was," the report alleged.

The affidavit stated that Rowan said the woman arrived home, blamed him for harming the dog, and attacked him with the knife.

While investigating the case, a detective reached out to an emergency veterinarian service to find out about lancing dog ears with cysts or other issues and was told the procedures were only done when animals were heavily sedated. The procedures are followed up with antibiotics and pain management, the report said.

At the house, the officers began discussing the case with the first arriving officer challenging Rowan's comments about the woman cutting him, the report said. The first officer told the reporting officer and a sergeant that Rowan "did not have a cut on his head" when they first arrived. The woman also denied the accusation, according to the affidavit.

The reporting officer spoke with Rowan again about the seriousness of the allegation and probable cause and "Rowan immediately began to tell me a different sequence of events as to what happened," the report said.

The affidavit accused Rowan of admitting to cutting his own head during an argument with the woman who was confronting him about cutting the dog. He then claimed that he moved the knife out of the way and cut his head with the knife, the report said. An officer and a sergeant, however, said the razor blade found in the toilet "was what Rowan had used to cut his head" and the knife was only used to cut the dog — since the blood on the knife was dry and not recent.

Rowan was arrested on Sept. 24 on purposeful cruelty to animals and two falsifying physical evidence charges, all felonies, and a misdemeanor false report to law enforcement charge. He refused bail and was arraigned in Merrimack County Superior Court later that day. After arraignment, he was released on $500 cash bail. Rowan is due back in court Dec. 21 for a dispositional conference.

Previously, Rowan was arrested in August 2019 on domestic violence-simple assault, simple assault, and two resisting arrest or detention charges and in September 2019 on domestic violence-second-degree assault-strangle, second-degree assault, domestic violence-simple assault, driving after revocation or suspension-subsequent, and two simple assault charges after an incident in the Fisherville Road area of the city. Later in September 2019, he was arrested on stalking-domestic violence, operating after suspension-second offense, and disobeying an officer charges in Merrimack.

Rowan was convicted on a felony theft by deception charge in Hillsborough County Superior Court South Aug. 25 based on an incident in Nashua at Lowe's on Daniel Webster Highway in December 2018, according to superior court records. He received a suspended sentence in that case.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.

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