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Philadelphia woman carjacks vehicle, stabs owner near Red Mill Pond

December 16, 2022

A Philadelphia woman faces charges after police say she stabbed a woman Dec. 15 near Red Mill Pond and took off in her car with a child inside.

Justice Bowser, 27, went to a home in the 17000 block of Valley Drive at 5:48 a.m. and got into a car that was running, said Sgt. India Sturgis of the Delaware State Police.

The car owner, a woman, 56, had started the vehicle remotely from inside her home, Sturgis said, and when she went outside to get an item from the car’s rear hatch, she heard the vehicle door shut.

She walked to the driver’s side and saw Bowser standing by the driver’s-side door and a 1-year-old child seated on the passenger side, Sturgis said. The woman tried to stop Bowser from getting into her car, Sturgis said, but Bowser stabbed the woman in the arm and fled the scene in the vehicle.

About 6:11 a.m., Sturgis said, troopers observed the car on Route 1 south of Broadkill Road and initiated a traffic stop, but the driver fled from troopers. Later that morning, she said, troopers spotted the car in the Middletown area and they were able to stop it. Bowser was taken into custody without further incident. During a search of Bowser, Sturgis said, police found a knife in her possession.

The 1-year-old child, an undisclosed relative of Bowser, was not injured during the incident. The 56-year-old victim was treated at an area hospital for nonlife-threatening injuries.

Bowser was transported to Troop 7 and charged with felony first-degree assault, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, first-degree robbery, first-degree reckless endangering, theft of a motor vehicle, disregarding a police officer signal, and endangering the welfare of a child. She was arraigned at Justice of the Peace Court 2 and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution in default of $191,000 cash bond.

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