Blackfoot man facing slew of charges, including intimidating a witness

POCATELLO — A man accused of forcing his way into the home of a Pocatello woman and trying to strangle her has been charged with six felonies.

Cody Gene Anson, 29, was transferred from the jail in Bingham County to the one in Bannock County, where he had been wanted in connection to a series of attacks dating back two years.

Anson, who had been arrested by Blackfoot police in December after allegedly stealing from Walmart and awaiting trial, was taken to Bannock County Jail on Tuesday. There, he was booked on charges of domestic battery and attempted strangulation, as well as two counts of intimidating a witness and two counts of first-degree stalking, according to court documents.

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Anson had been wanted in Bannock County for an incident that occurred on Feb. 13, 2020.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, deputies with the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a home around 2:15 a.m. following reports of a domestic disturbance.

When they arrived at the scene, deputies reported hearing screaming inside a home, police reports say. As they approached, the deputies said they could hear a man screaming at a woman.

Deputies “pounded” on the door, identifying themselves as police, the affidavit says. The screaming stopped and a person was heard running inside.

A woman opened the door and identified herself, saying Anson had been in her home attacking her but had run upstairs after hearing the officers.

Deputies immediately noticed a sliding door upstairs was wide open, according to the affidavit.

After checking inside, to confirm that Anson was not hiding in the home, the officers followed footsteps found in the snow leading away from the sliding door. The footsteps led to a fence, the affidavit says, and it appeared the man had jumped the fence in an attempt to run.

A call was put out to all officers in the area, providing a description. And despite a search in vehicles and on foot, the man was never found.

Officers spoke with the victim, who said that she had been out earlier in the night celebrating a friend’s birthday. She said that she had seen Anson at the group’s first stop, so they moved to another location. But Anson later showed up there, so the friends left the party and the victim returned to her home.

Officers had been called to the woman’s home earlier the same night, according to the affidavit. They were told by a neighbor that Anson was at the home, banging on the front door and yelling for the victim. But, according to a witness, he left the home in his white Dodge Durango before officers arrived.

The Durango was found later that night in Old Town. It had been wrecked, police reports show, first crashed into another vehicle then into a cement barrier at the intersection of Hawthorne Road and Riverside Drive.

When the victim arrived at her home, she told officers that Anson was in front, hiding in some bushes.

She said that as she approached the home, Anson came at her and pulled her keys and cell phone from her hand and threw them into the bushes.

Following a brief fight, the victim said that a neighbor came outside. Anson attempted to hide from the neighbor, at which point the victim hurried through her garage door.

But, she said, Anson was able to slide under the garage door as it was shutting.

Once inside, Anson allegedly attacked the woman. She told officers that as she tried to get away, he grabbed her coat and dragged her up the stairs.

She said that she tried to call 911 from her smartwatch, but Anson grabbed the watch and yanked it off her wrist.

The victim said that despite her attempts to fight him off, Anson had pinned her to the ground, and that is where she was when officers arrived.

She said that during the fight, several items were damaged and broken, and Anson had punched and kicked several holes in the walls.

The victim told officers that she was “terrified,” and that she knew Anson to be very violent when he had been drinking, which she believed was the case that night.

Officers who searched the home looking for Anson earlier reported seeing numerous holes in the walls of the home.

Police reports also show that the victim displayed several marks on the left side of her neck, throat and chin.

She denied medical treatment. She was also unable to find her phone, keys or watch.

Officers spoke with Anson over the phone that same night. According to the affidavit, Anson was not cooperative and refused to speak to the officers in person. He did, however, deny being involved in any incident in Pocatello, saying he had been in Blackfoot all night.

In addition to charges of stalking, intimidating a witness and domestic battery stemming from this incident, Anson has been charged with stalking, intimidating a witness and attempted strangulation in connection to other incidents involving the same victim. In at least one other incident, his alleged attack reportedly left the victim in need of medical treatment for a fractured nose, bruising to both eyes and bruising to her neck, mouth and chin.

Anson has also been charged with a misdemeanor for battery. He also has outstanding misdemeanor charges for commercial burglary and petty theft, as well as felony charges for burglary, damage to a jail and a persistent violator enhancement in connection to the Blackfoot Walmart incident.

He is scheduled to appear in court before Magistrate Judge Carol Tippi Jarman for a preliminary hearing on March 7.

Although Anson is accused of a crime it does not necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.