Driver wanted by FCPD rams state trooper vehicle during I-395 chase

The Fairfax County Police Department recovered a vehicle it was searching for last night (Wednesday) with the help of the Virginia State Police, which arrested the driver after an intense pursuit on I-395.

The 2006 Cadillac sedan landed on the FCPD’s radar on Jan. 29, when one of its officers pulled the vehicle over for a traffic violation around 8:25 p.m.

“The officer approached the car and during the encounter, the driver fled at a high rate of speed,” the police department told FFXnow.

The officer opted not to pursue the car after identifying the driver and owner as Nelson Bowman, a 31-year-old D.C. resident, the FCPD says. Instead, the officer got a felony warrant for speeding to elude law enforcement, which was entered into the national and state criminal information databases.

That information led a Virginia State Police trooper to flag the car at 8:55 p.m. yesterday on northbound I-395. An automated license plate reader notified the trooper that the vehicle was wanted by Fairfax County police.

“The trooper activated his emergency lights and sirens to initiate a traffic stop, but the Cadillac refused to pull over and sped away northbound on I-395,” VSP said. “A pursuit was initiated.”

During the chase, the Cadillac “rammed” one of the pursuing trooper’s vehicles, pushing it off the interstate and into a jersey wall, according to a state police news release. The trooper was taken to a hospital for an evaluation and treatment of “minor injuries.”

The chase concluded when the sedan stopped on the George Washington Parkway near Route 50 in Arlington County, per state police:

The pursuit ended when the Cadillac stopped on the George Washington Parkway near Route 50. The driver fled on foot. The driver was apprehended a short time later and taken into custody. A passenger was also taken into custody and later released. A handgun was recovered from inside the Cadillac.

State police charged the driver of the Cadillac, Nelson Bowman, 31, of Washington, D.C., with one felony malicious wounding on law enforcement, one felony assault of a law enforcement officer, one felony count of eluding police, one felony count of illegal possession of a concealed firearm, one felony count of hit and run, one felony count of destruction of property and one misdemeanor count of obstruction of justice.