CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: McDonald’s robbery suspect still jailed in ID theft case

Following up on the man arrested for allegedly robbing the Westwood Village McDonald’s last week – he isn’t charged in that case yet, but he’s being held on another case in which he is charged (that’s the warrant we mentioned the night of the arrest). He’s 36-year-old Cody L. Bowlin, charged back in October 2023 with three counts of ID theft linked to a stolen purse and attempts to use stolen cards at businesses in Burien. The case has a lengthy trail – he didn’t show up for his initial arraignment in late October of last year, so a warrant was issued. He was finally back in custody in January, but released to an alternative program after two weeks, with orders to report withn 24 hours. He never showed. Another warrant was issued in May; he wound up in custody in June and was sent to treatment in Spokane. He was released to another alternative program in July, and never showed up for that, so another warrant was issued in August. That’s what he was arrested on last week, besides the alleged robbery (after which, police say, they recovered the screwdriver he allegedly used as a weapon, plus the stolen cash box and “a plethora of burglary tools”). His current bail for the ID theft case is set at $15,000. Court records show no previous felony cases against him in King County.

Greg December 3, 2024 (11:06 pm)

Wow, what a loser. This type of recidivism is why repeat offenders like him, ABSOLUTELY NEED maximum sentences.

WS Guy December 4, 2024 (2:30 am)

Looking forward to a Seattle judge releasing him to an alternative program.

22blades December 4, 2024 (4:52 am)

Our judicial system is not doing anybody, the public or the defendant for that matter, any good. These are massive cracks in the system. I believe in the “Correctional System” but this does not even resemble one with this man cycling through “alternative programs” like a revolving door.

Jason December 4, 2024 (5:30 am)

This is exactly what I have mentioned before with regards to having these judges that don’t want to hold criminals accountable! It’s ridiculous… Many have comment on these posts defending the judges stating that “they are just following the laws that are written for punishment” which isn’t the case at all. They have a lot of discretion whether they hold a criminal accountable such as hard jail time, home monitoring (where they often cut off their tracking ankle bracelet) or send the individual to other things such as alternative programs and treatment where this individual willingly continuously choose to no show and just commit more crimes instead while not in jail. This must stop now! No more second, third and fourth chances for these repeat criminals who continuously break the laws and chose to never show up for their court dates or alternative “punishment”. We elect judges to hold criminals accountable for a safer more functional society for all those who do follow laws and pay taxes yet these judges keep failing to do what they are elected to do. We need judges to run against them who will actually hold criminals accountable with jail time.

Little brown dog December 4, 2024 (5:55 am)

I genuinely wonder what the recidivism rate is for the alternative programs and don’t understand why somebody with one no show is sentenced to it again. A stolen purse with ID theft might seem relatively minor except to the victim, but retail robbery with a weapon that could definitely cause an injury is a deja vu escalation we see in too many cases. So seriously, anybody know the effectiveness/recidivism rate of such sentences?

DD December 4, 2024 (8:13 am)

He hasn’t recycled through any of the alternative programs because he never shows up. Clearly that option should be off the table for him. Perhaps another example of the current system (with underfunded agencies) shuffling offenders to alternate programs when they don’t have resources to handle them in the right setting. For this guy the right setting might be incarceration/supervised community service,

WSRob December 4, 2024 (8:29 am)

We have allowed over the last decade or two, activists to be elected as “Judges” who do NOT have the community interest or common sense at hand. Until we all clean house on these activist, they will continue to let repeat offenders out because THEY think it’s fair. Nobody else does.

Marcus December 4, 2024 (10:12 am)

Seems like the alternative programs are available for which have been budgeted and funded. The issue is that this guy does not want to reform and become a contributing member of society. I think he needs to go to jail for a few years.

I love beer too but also our Constituion December 4, 2024 (10:18 am)

For those bashing courts, judges, and ‘the system,’ know this: our courts and this system are underwater, understaffed, overburdened to unbelievable levels, underfunded, and yet forced to still handle every case. Oh, and jail space, yeah, that’s an issue, too. Know that your comments lacking insight or knowledge of this insanely overlooked problem are essentially misguided. Most state court judges have like the worst job in the world. They’re struggling their best with so little help to manage truly crushing caseload. Next time you have a case in a state court you will see this up close and personal, and the situation is ugly. The worst part is, with a system this broken and this unable to hold criminals truly accountable, there will be more crime. So funding the courts isn’t as sexy as other issues, but you get what you pay for, and our democracy will suffer from it in the form of increasing crime and increasing pressure on all of us to resort to our Second Amendment rights to mete out more ‘stand your ground’ type justice on the fly. Meaning, get out your garden hoses to wash away more blood. No joke.

22blades December 4, 2024 (3:29 pm)

I wholeheartedly agree with “you get what you pay for, and our democracy will suffer from it...” I don’t think people are “bashing courts, judges, and ‘the system,” however. We are well aware that our law enforcement & judicial apparatus is over worked & underfunded. What I do think is that the voting populace doesn’t see the contradiction between “don’t defund the police” & “get government outta my life”. “We” have voted in a cast of characters that have no use for any checks & balances for their own behavior while decrying “those” lawless people. They simply have no use for a correctional system. They just want the problem to go away by deporting, incarcerating or a death sentence.