Derek Michael Bowser, 23, of 419 Knarr St., DuBois and an inmate of the Clearfield County Jail, was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to six months to two years in state prison. Prior to sentencing, Bowser’s attorney asked for a county sentence at which time Ammerman shook his head and commented that the new case “is bad.”
For the latest assault, Bowser is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, harassment and disorderly conduct. These charges stem from an incident in DuBois on July 31 when Bower allegedly threatened and assaulted a woman and her 3-year-old daughter. Bowser waived his right to a preliminary hearing in the new case Friday.
According to the affidavit of probable cause in the latest case, the victim told police that she was at a Rumbarger Avenue address with Bowser and her daughter. Bowser became upset when her daughter wasn’t in bed by a certain time. He told her she had one minute to call her father, leave or put her daughter to bed. When she went onto the porch to call her father, she heard the girl say something to Bowser. She told the girl she didn’t have to listen to him.
Bowser then allegedly went onto the porch and punched the woman in the left side of the face with a closed fist, breaking her glasses and knocking them off her face. She tried to run, but Bowser chased her and made her go back inside the house. He allegedly started yelling at her and acting crazy as she tried to calm him down.
Bowser allegedly went over to the girl, yelled at her and then pushed her onto the floor. He made both of them enter a bedroom. Once they were near the bathroom, he allegedly grabbed the woman by the throat and threw her against the wall. He chased her into the bathroom. Next he allegedly picked up the 3-year-old who was standing in the doorway and slammed her to the ground. He allegedly smacked the girl across her back and face.
At this time, he stated instead of going to jail, he was going to kill the woman and allegedly went into the kitchen and returned with a knife. He made both the woman and her daughter lie down in the bedroom with him. When she moved to turn the light on, Bowser allegedly jumped up, grabbed her by the throat and accused her of trying to escape. He ordered her to call her father and have him bring some pills. As she dialed the phone, Bowser allegedly held it and had her by the throat so she couldn’t move. He then forced her into the living room to wait for her father.
While in the living room, he allegedly grabbed her by the back of the neck, put the knife to her throat and told her if the police showed up, or she tried to scream or run, he was going to stab and kill her. He also allegedly said he would kill the 3-year-old. When the father arrived, the victim and her daughter managed to escape into his truck. Bowser allegedly threatened to kill her if she didn’t get out of the truck, but her father was able to pull away from the home.
The victim said Bowser kept her in the house against her will for about two hours. Police described the victim with a black and blue left eye that was almost swollen shut. Her eye had a large cut above the eyebrow, which was bleeding and appeared to need stitches. She also had redness on the front of her neck.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the victim was crying and shaking and appeared very scared. She complained about pain in her face. The 3-year-old had redness and swelling between her eye and ear and two fresh red brush burns on her neck. Both were taken to the emergency room for treatment.
The victim needed eight stitches above her eye. The child had a cut on her head, scratches and cuts on the left shoulder/neck area, redness and swelling on the left side of her face, a lump on the side of her head and redness with bruising on her back.
In the previous assault case from March 2011, the victim suffered a broken left cheek bone, bleeding behind her left eye, a broken maxillary cavity along the sinus wall and she also had a bad contusion on her right hand.