Bazan

GARWIN – A local woman has pleaded not guilty to all charges stemming from a September incident in which a loaded gun was allegedly discovered in her vehicle parked on school grounds in Garwin.

Back on Sept. 27, Ashley Nichole Marie Bazan, 33, of Garwin was arrested on a warrant by the Tama County Sheriff’s Department on a slew of charges including one count of making firearms available to a minor, two counts of felon in control of a firearm, and one count of carrying weapons on school grounds – all Class D felonies. She was also charged with two counts of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor.

On Oct. 28, Bazan filed a written arraignment and a plea of not guilty in Tama County District Court while demanding a speedy trial.

Charges in the case stem from several incidents that took place this past September. According to court documents, on Sept. 21, Bazan allegedly left two minor victims in the case – a 13-year-old and a three-year-old – unsupervised for approximately four hours at her Garwin Center Street residence. During that time, the older victim retrieved a loaded Sig Sauer P227 (pistol) from the top of a cabinet and took a photo of it. Per the criminal complaint, the photo was sent to another juvenile as a ‘show of self defense.’ The firearm in the photograph – which Bazan allegedly later identified as her own – had no trigger lock nor safety mechanism.

Two days later, on Sept. 23, Bazan is alleged to have called Gabriel Allen Alvarez – a convicted felon who was the only adult at her Garwin residence at the time of the call – and asked him to relocate the same loaded pistol from one area of the residence to an upstairs bedroom closet. At the time, Alvarez was babysitting the younger minor victim in the case.

That same day – sometime between 1:45 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. when classes at GMG were in session – a Tama County deputy seized a loaded Taurus .357 revolver from Bazan’s white Chevrolet Silverado, which was parked along the east side of the school grounds on Fourth Street. According to the criminal complaint, the revolver “had been left lying in plain view on the dashboard” of Bazan’s vehicle.

When contacted on Oct. 8 by the newspaper for comment, GMG Superintendent Chris Petersen said Bazan was on school premises on Sept. 23 as a parent.

As part of the arrest warrant in the case, Bazan’s bail was set at $5,000 cash; after being arrested on Sept. 27, she bonded out that same day.

Bazan’s jury trial has been scheduled for Dec. 9, 2024, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Tama County Courthouse. A case management conference has also been scheduled ahead of trial and is set for Nov. 21 at 10 a.m.