By Marcie Young
The Charlotte Observer
CONOVER, N.C. - A Conover man was shot to death by a Highway Patrol trooper late Thursday after he fled during a traffic stop and doused the officer with pepper spray, authorities said.
Trooper J.D. Connors pulled over 30-year-old Derek Neal Bowman’s truck shortly after 11:30 p.m. when he spotted the white pickup swerving and driving erratically on Lee Cline Road, authorities said.
Connors pulled the truck over, said Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Everett Clendenin, and found a pill bottle filled with a white substance. When Connors tried to arrest the driver, authorities said, he fled into a field.
Connors chased the driver and the men began wrestling when Connors tried to arrest him. Connors tried to use his pepper spray on the man, but he grabbed it from the trooper and sprayed it into Connors’ eyes and face, authorities said.
The trooper then fired at Bowman and killed him, authorities said.
Catawba County had an open warrant against Bowman for robbery with a dangerous weapon, said Trooper Jorge Brewer, a Highway Patrol spokesman in Raleigh.
According to records obtained by the Observer, Bowman was also awaiting trial for larceny and drug possession and had been convicted for resisting a public officer, felony breaking and entering and felony larceny.
Authorities are testing the white substance, and Connors has been put on administrative leave with pay while the State Bureau of Investigation reviews the shooting. Connors, 26, joined the Highway Patrol in 2003.
The Highway Patrol’s use of force policy allows troopers to “use a level of force necessary” to make an arrest and to “use force when his life or the lives of others are in jeopardy,” Brewer said.
Copyright 2008 The Charlotte Observer