Man Accused Of Stabbing Lyft Driver In Darien Now In Custody: Police

DARIEN, CT — A man accused of stabbing a Lyft driver in Darien earlier this summer is in custody in Maryland and awaiting extradition back to Connecticut, according to an update from the Darien Police Department.

On June 27 at 10:37 p.m., the Darien Police Department responded to a report of a single motor vehicle crash in the area of West Avenue and Holmes Avenue. While responding, officers were told that a Lyft driver had been stabbed and a suspect had fled the scene with the driver's cell phone, police said.

The driver reported picking up a customer in Stamford and while en route to a destination in Norwalk, the driver was stabbed several times shortly after entering Darien, police said.

The driver told police he intentionally crashed his car into a tree on West Avenue in order to stop the attack, police said. The driver was taken to the hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Darien detectives prepared, and were granted after judicial review, numerous search warrants for Lyft account information and phone records, which led to a primary suspect, police said.

Investigators determined the suspect, who was identified as Abiola L. Shonowo, 28, was on probation in Maryland, police said.

A Baltimore County probation officer contacted Darien detectives notifying them that Shonowo had been arrested on July 4 in Baltimore County for unrelated crimes, police said.

Investigators reviewed the Maryland arrest reports and body camera footage and were able to determine that Shonowo was in possession of stolen property that further connected him to the Darien incident, police said.

An arrest warrant application was submitted and approved by a Stamford Superior Court judge on July 20 for Shonowo, with a court set bond of $1 million.

Shonowo currently remains in custody in the state of Maryland after he was arrested on July 28 for a probation violation, police said.

The DPD said additional information will be released after the interstate extradition process is complete.