Drydan Howrey

A Cody man is facing felony charges after he allegedly broke into a neighbor’s apartment while armed with a gun last week. Police suspect the incident may have stemmed from drug-induced paranoia.

Drydan N. Howrey, 25, is facing felony counts of aggravated assault and felonious restraint and a misdemeanor count of criminal entry in connection with the Thursday morning altercation.

Howrey remained in custody on Monday, with bail set at $5,000 cash.

Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichele recommended that bond be set at the $5,000 level, citing the seriousness of the allegations.

“It’s pretty egregious conduct,” Eichele said.

For his part, Howrey asked to be released on a signature bond, noting his general lack of a criminal record.

“I’ve been trying to do good for myself,” said Howrey, who owns a Powell business.

He also asked the court to consider that at the time of the allegations, “I was worried for my family’s sake.”

However, charging documents suggest his worries were unfounded.

Two calls to police

Cody police were initially contacted just before 11 a.m. Thursday, when a person expressed concern about Howrey’s welfare.

According to the caller’s account, Howrey had been using meth, had a rifle and a pistol and was paranoid. Howrey “was convinced people were following him, had hacked his phone and were after his family,” Officer Trevor Budd recounted in an affidavit.

As Budd and another officer were speaking with the caller, a neighbor of Howrey’s called 911.

The resident told authorities that Howrey had kicked open their door, demanding to know where his family was; according to the resident, Howrey was armed with a semi-automatic pistol that he held at his side.

It was a “tense and uncertain encounter,” Budd wrote, and the neighbor was “in fear for his life or great bodily harm, as he was being confronted by a man with a gun, acting irrational … who was blocking [the neighbor’s] means of escape.”

Officers responded to the Kent Avenue apartment complex and ultimately convicted Howrey to come outside with his hands up. He was taken into custody without incident.

Suspicions of paranoia

In a subsequent interview with police, Howrey reiterated his belief that his phone had been hacked and that unknown people had been messing with him, reporting that he’d been “finding little things that are off,” the affidavit says; Howrey expressed specific concern that an unknown man from Detroit might be wanting to hurt him.

Budd shared some skepticism in his affidavit writing that, “Based on my training and experience, I know methamphetamine users to commonly express paranoid ideations.”

Howrey allegedly acknowledged he’d been armed when he broke into the neighbor’s apartment. Officers ultimately retrieved a Polymer P80 pistol from Howrey’s apartment that matched the neighbor’s description: The weapon — which didn’t appear to have a serial number — had a live, hollow-point round in the chamber with another 22 rounds loaded in a clear, extended magazine.

No firearms

If Howrey makes bail, he’ll have to turn his firearms over to another person and have them stored outside his residence while the case is pending.

The judge warned Howrey that, given his pending charges, “it may be subject to potential federal crime … if you don’t relinquish your firearms.” 

“You cannot possess firearms,” the judge said.

Howrey was also ordered to have no contact with his neighbor.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for May 6. On that same day, Darrah will hear prosecutors’ request to revoke Howrey’s bond in an earlier, unrelated case that stemmed from a June altercation at a Cody bar.

Howrey had been scheduled to change his not guilty plea to the misdemeanor battery charge and be sentenced on Wednesday, but it was delayed at the request of his attorney. The alleged assault occurred the following morning.