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The incident began at about 6:25 p.m. Saturday, April 22, when troopers from Troop G in Bridgeport stopped a vehicle driven by Robert W. Bowens, 33, at Exit 27 on northbound I-95.
Troopers searched the car driven by Bowens, of 1147 Ogden St. Ext., Bridgeport, and found "several illegal items," police said.
"At that time, Troopers gave Mr. Bowens verbal commands in order to detain him," police said.
Instead, Bowens attempted to flee, with troopers chasing him, police said.
Troopers attempted to deploy a taser, but it was ineffective, police said.
"An intense struggle ensued on the highway and at some point during this struggle, Mr. Bowens produced a firearm in the close quarters," police said.
Troopers fought to control Bowens' arm holding the firearm, police said. After a long struggle, they knocked the firearm from his control, police said.
At some point during the struggle, some of Bowens’ family members arrived at the scene and began yelling at the troopers during the fight, police said.
Bowens broke free and jumped into a grey Infiniti SUV, operated by his family members, which then attempted to drive the wrong way down the Exit 27 onramp, police said, where they were met by backup troopers.
The vehicle then changed direction and drove the wrong way onto the Exit 1 southbound Route 8 connector to I-95 northbound, police said.
Bowens escaped as the SUV drove northbound in the southbound flyover of Route 8, police said.
The troopers sustained minor abrasions in struggle, police said.
Several different police jurisdictions helped to find the suspect in the ongoing investigation, state police said.
At 7:20 a.m. Tuesday, May 9, Bowens was taken custody without incident in the area of Pearl Harbor Street in Bridgeport, state police said.
He was transported to the Bridgeport Police Department and later, to Troop G, for processing.
Bowens was charged with two counts of criminal attempt assault, two counts of assaulting a police officer, reckless driving, criminal possession of a firearm, weapons in a motor vehicle, possessing a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of ammunition and criminal possession of an electronic defense weapon.
Bowens, a convicted felon, was held on court-set bond of $500,000 on these charges.
In addition, there were two violation of probation warrants, each with a $100,000 court-set bond, that were also processed.
Bowens was to be arraigned Tuesday at Bridgeport Superior Court.
"The combined efforts of all the participating law enforcement agencies in attempting to locate this subject needs to be recognized and commended," state police said. The arrest was made with the assistance of U.S. Marshal-led Connecticut Violent Fugitive Task Force.
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