Amateur heavyweight mixed martial artist Charles Rowan is reportedly alive after all, and is facing robbery, assault and attempted murder charges in the wake of a fake death plot, according to MLive.com’s Garret Ellison.
One month after faking his own death, Rowan was arrested along with two others on Wednesday in connection with a gun shop robbery that took place Monday, March 18, according to the Gladwin County Record.
Rowan, his girlfriend Rosalinda Martinez and friend Michael Robert Bowman were in a Michigan district court room on Friday to hear charges against them.
The trio are charged with the attempted robbery of the Guns and Stuff store in Sage Township and assault on the store owner, Richard Robinette, who was badly beaten with a hammer and suffered head injuries. The victim is reportedly in stable condition at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Mich.
The culprits have officially been charged with armed robbery, felony firearms, conspiracy to commit robbery and assault with intent to murder.
Rowan, 25, was set to fight on Feb. 2, but girlfriend Martinez, who was reportedly charged along with him in the attempted robbery, informed his promoters that he had been severely injured in a snowy car accident on the way to the fight, according to Ellison.
Two days later Martinez told Rowan’s promoters he had died.
One of Rowan’s promoters, Christos Piliafas still can’t believe it (via Ellison): “It’s a little bonkers, to be totally honest. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”
The Feb. 2 bout at Streeters Night Club in Traverse City would have been Rowan’s fifth career MMA fight.
Piliafas, who runs the Caged Aggression fight series, and the other promoter, Scott DiPonio, who runs Traverse City-based Diamond D fight team, held a benefit for Rowan shortly after hearing of his supposed death and raised $1,300 for his funeral.
The two promoters are pressing charges against Rowan, Martinez and Bowman for felony fraud and larceny.
“If it wasn’t for the armed robbery, I’d probably still be sending them money,” said DiPonio.
The report also states that Rowan was charged with a third habitual-offender offense and is a registered sex offender. His bond has been set at $500,000.
The preliminary hearing for Rowan and the others is set for April 1, according to the Gladwin County Record.
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