A state trooper from Reisterstown faces felony charges after allegedly flashing a gun at a couple during what police have described as a road rage incident on Sunday night on the Baltimore Beltway.
Baltimore County police said today that officers got a call from a couple who were driving on I-695 near the Liberty Road exit in Windsor Mill at around 6:30 p.m. The man and woman told police they were traveling on the outer loop when the man, who was driving, switched lanes.
It was then that that the driver of a Volkswagen Jetta “came behind the victims’ car” and, shortly thereafter, “pointed a handgun at the man and woman,” according to police.
The couple provided some identifying information about the driver to police—Baltimore Fishbowl has requested a copy of the arrest report—and detectives were able to identify him as Zachary Tyler Bowen, 28, of Leyton Road in Reisterstown. Police located and arrested Bowen at his house.
At some point, they also learned that Bowen is a trooper with the Maryland State Police. State employee salary records compiled by The Sun indicate Bowen has been with the department since 2012.
In an emailed statement, Maryland State Police said Bowen was immediately suspended without pay as a result of the arrest, and the agency’s Internal Affairs Division will conduct its own administrative investigation. Bowen was most recently assigned to MSP’s Automotive Safety Enforcement Division, the statement said.
He’s been charged with two counts apiece of first- and second-degree assault, as well as use of a firearm in commission of a violent crime.
Court records indicate Bowen was released on his own recognizance this afternoon, and is due to appear for a preliminary hearing April 12. He didn’t have an attorney listed with his name.
