Hearing reveals NC trooper’s ‘inappropriate’ relationship with teen after DWI
A former North Carolina state trooper pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors Thursday after he had a sexual relationship with a teen he cited for driving while intoxicated, and then helped her get the case dismissed, according to statements made in court Thursday.
Erick Bowen pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and failing to discharge his duties, class-one misdemeanors.
Bowen, hired in 2020 in the district that includes Warren County, resigned on May 7, according to the State Highway Patrol.
Bowen’s crimes go back to October 2022, when he stopped Kassidy Faye Edwards and charged her with impaired driving and underage drinking, Assistant District Attorney Charity Wilborn said in district court in Vance County.
Court documents indicate that Edwards was 18 at the time. Bowen, was about 28, according to information from the Highway Patrol.
If Bowen had gone to trial, prosecutors would have presented evidence that showed “very shortly after the arrest” Bowen contacted Edwards on social media and then began an “inappropriate sexual relationship” with her, Vance County District Attorney Michael Waters said in an interview.
Bowen then misrepresented the strength of the charges against the woman to a prosecutor, who dismissed the charges on Nov. 2, 2022, Wilborn said.
The interaction between the trooper and the then teen were revealed after Edwards was involved in a May 2, 2024 crash on Interstate 85 in Vance County, Waters said. That crash also involved her driving under the influence and left another driver with serious injuries, according to court documents.
May 2, 2024 wreck on I-85
A truck driver who witnessed the May 2024 wreck, which occurred around 12:20 a.m., told a Henderson police officer that a red Dodge Charger driven by Edwards was racing or otherwise fooling around with a black truck on the interstate, according to search warrants from state and local officials.
The red Charger then accelerated to possibly 100 mph, before it lost control, crossed into the right lane and struck a Ford SUV in the right rear, the witness reported. The contact sent the SUV airborne, flipping several times, the witness said, according to search warrants.
The man in the truck suffered serious injuries to his brain, neck and pelvis, according to Edwards’ criminal indictments.
After the crash, police found Edwards and another person sitting in the black truck parked on the side of the road. The officer smelled a strong odor of alcohol from Edwards, and arrested her, placing handcuffs on her wrists. The officer had to hold Edwards up as they walked to a police car “due to her swaying back and forth and being unstable on her feet,” the search warrants say.
Police officials found a 12-pack of Vizzy Hard Seltzer in Edwards’ car and her blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit, according to search warrants sought by Henderson police and a North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement agent.
Another impaired driving charge
Edwards, then 20-years-old, faced charges after the 2024 crash that included felony serious injury by a vehicle and impaired driving.
On March 3, Edwards pleaded guilty to felony serious injury by a vehicle and possession of a malt beverage by someone who is underage. She was sentenced to 12 to 24 months probation and 28 days in inpatient treatment, which she had completed by the time of the plea.
“Defendant shall continue to cooperate with all law enforcement officials in all legal proceedings against Eric(k) Bowen of NCSHP,” her plea document states.
Edwards did not appear in court on Thursday. Instead, Bowen, who represented himself, was the only person to appear in the case after he reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Edwards declined to comment through her attorney Boyd Sturges.
After Bowen pleaded guilty to the two misdemeanors Thursday, District Court Judge John W. Davis sentenced him to 12 months probation and 72 hours of community service at a nonprofit organization.
The plea agreement also required Bowen to permanently surrender his law enforcement certification. After Bowen completes those requirements, his probation can be downgraded from supervised to unsupervised probation, the agreement states.
The ex-trooper declined to comment as he walked out of the courthouse.
Third incident involving state trooper
This case marks the third incident in which a state trooper has faced accusations of not telling the truth or breaking the law in recent weeks.
In Wake County, Trooper Garrett Macario and his supervisor Sgt. Matthew Morrison were under investigation for being dishonest initially to Raleigh police about Macario’s involvement in a crash that killed Tyrone Mason in October. Last week Wake District Attorney Lorrin Freeman declined to press charges against Macario and Morrision.
After Macario initially told Raleigh officers that he didn’t try to pull over Mason, Macario came clean about his involvement in the crash to another officer on the scene of the crash and then to a captain who called him later, according to Freeman’s report.
Freeman, however, expressed concern about the troopers’ dishonesty and Macario’s failure to check on Mason immediately following the crash.
Freeman dismissed about 200 of the troopers’ cases in Wake County due to concerns about their credibility. Waters said he has already dismissed about 35 cases involving Bowen and plans to dismiss about 75 more of his driving while intoxicated charges.
In another case involving a Highway Patrol member, State Trooper Mark Melvin, who patrols Person County, was arrested on three misdemeanor domestic violence charges on May 20, according to court documents.
Melvin was charged with misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, assault causing a serious injury and assault on a female, according to Melvin’s arrest warrant.
All the charges are related to an April 8 incident with a woman he was dating, the warrant states. Melvin assaulted and struck the woman “by forcefully removing” a cell phone from hand and “inflicting serious injury to her left ring finger, requiring surgery,” Melvin’s arrest warrant states.
The Highway Patrol has more than 1,600 troopers who cover nearly 80,000 miles across the state, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Highway Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Christopher Knox didn’t respond to requests for comment on Edwards and the other cases. He also didn’t respond to questions about if Bowen or Melvin were put on administrative leave at any point. Melvin continues to work for Highway Patrol, according to information Knox provided.
(This article was updated at 12 p.m. Friday to include the number of criminal cases charged by Erick Bowen that Vance District Attorney Michael Waters dismissed or plans to dismiss.)
(Staff reporter David Raynor contributed to this report.)
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The headline on this story was revised to include the abbreviation for the legal charge of driving while intoxicated.
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 4:41 PM.
