Philadelphia woman arrested for Lewes area carjacking

LEWES, Del. – A Philadelphia woman is behind bars in Sussex County on assault and other charges following a carjacking.

Shortly before 6 a.m. Thursday, troopers were called to the 17000 block of Valley Drive for a reported carjacking. It was learned that the 56-year-old victim remotely started her vehicle while she was inside of her residence before walking outside, opening the driver’s side car door, and placing her purse inside he vehicle. She reportedly heard the car door shut after she walked toward the vehicle’s rear hatch to retrieve an item. When she walked back to the driver’s side, she saw a woman, identified as 27-year-old Justice Bowser, standing by the driver’s side car door with a child seated on the passenger side.

The victim reportedly tried to remove Bowser when Bowser got into the vehicle, stabbed the victim in the arm with an unknown object, and fled the scene in the victim’s vehicle.

At around 6:10 a.m., police observed the vehicle on Coastal Highway, south of Broadkill Road, and tried to initiate a traffic stop, but Bowser fled. Later that morning, troopers found the vehicle in the Middletown area and conducted a traffic stop, successfully taking Bowser into custody. Bowser was also found with a knife in her possession. The 1-year-old child, an undisclosed relative of Bowser, was not injured.

The 56-year-old victim was treated at an area hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

Bowser was charged with first degree assault, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, first degree robbery, first degree reckless endangerment, theft of a motor vehicle, disregarding a police officer signal, and endangering the welfare of a child. She was held at SCI on a $191,000 cash bond.