Car Thieves Ram Bowie Police Car, Lead Officers on Wild Chase: Police

BOWIE, MD — Car thieves rammed a Bowie police car and led officers on a wild chase on Interstate 495 early Tuesday morning, resulting in one officer firing a gun at them and another officer getting in an accident, according to the Bowie Police Department.

Police received a call for service at around 3:30 a.m. for tampering or stolen vehicle in the 15400 block of Jenkins Ridge Road, and when officers arrived they found that two vehicles had been stolen and one SUV was in the middle of the roadway with a suspect still in it, who was arrested immediately, Bowie Deputy Police Chief Dwayne Preston told Patch.

"Three additional suspects fled in a U-Haul van," Preston said. "As officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the suspect then came back to the original scene and intentionally hit a marked cruiser."

That prompted one of the officers to fire his service weapon at the vehicle, which then fled down Central Avenue and eventually continued on I-495. During the chase, the van struck another car on the highway, causing it to lose control and resulted in one of the pursuing officers striking the vehicle. Nobody was injured, however.

The suspects continued into D.C., and at some point officers lost sight of them but eventually found the vehicle on 6th Street SE. The Metropolitan Police Department apprehend three of the suspects, and held two of them on unrelated charges as they apparently had warrants for their arrest. The third was released from the scene, and Bowie police are investigating to see if they can tie him to the incident.