Fugitive's Flight Cut Short by Deputies

A 36-year-old Riverview man is behind bars after Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies say he attempted to outrun them in the Brandon area Wednesday.

According to the agency, deputies rolled up to a construction site around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday after learning that a wanted fugitive, Rodger Fowler, just might be there. Fowler had two active felony warrants and a child support warrant out for his arrest, the agency noted in an email to media.

Deputies, as it turned out, were at the right location to capture the man, but Fowler spotted them first.

“Fowler dropped his tools and began running,” the agency wrote. Deputies searched, but couldn’t find him after he made his way into a residential area.

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The search for Fowler ended, but it wasn’t forgotten. Around midnight, deputies spotted a white Isuzu Rodeo heading east on Curry Street in Brandon at a high rate of speed. They also happened to notice the vehicle had an improper tag.

Deputies attempted a traffic stop. When the vehicle pulled into a driveway at 1516 Curry St., deputies realized their wanted man happened to be inside. Fowler bailed out of the driver’s side of the vehicle and ran into a wooded area nearby, the email said.

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Not willing to lose their man again, deputies called in the aviation and K9 units. From the air, deputies were able to spot Fowler near the railroad tracks and K9 units tracked to the location where he was hiding, the email said.

As it turns out, a woman was also in the Isuzu Rodeo. Deputies say they had talked to that woman late last month during a previous attempt to locate Fowler since the two have the same home address. They warned her at the time that she could be arrested if she helped the man escape capture, the email noted.

Deputies held true to their word and brought Nicole Shouse, 34, to the Orient Road Jail on resisting arrest without violence charges.

As for Fowler, he now faces two counts of resisting arrest without violence, one count of fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer, driving without a license and operating an unregistered vehicle charges. He also faces those outstand warrants, which include failure to appear on possession of a controlled substance and felon carrying a concealed weapons charges. He’s also in hot water for failure to pay child support, the agency noted.

Booking photos courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office