CLEARFIELD – A Grassflat woman has been accused of abandoning her baby in order to flee from state police.
Ashley D. Bowman, 27, has been charged by Trooper Dominicus Tolbert of the Rockview-based state police with felony endangering the welfare of children and misdemeanor intentional possession of controlled substance, use/possession of drug paraphernalia and make repairs, sell, etc. offensive weapon.
Bowman waived her right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court at the Clearfield County Jail. For this, her bail is currently set at $50,000 unsecured.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Sept. 28, Tolbert was dispatched to assist Clearfield troopers at the Harbor Inn in Decatur Township, where a six- to nine-month-old baby was reportedly in a vehicle with an unconscious woman.
Upon arrival, the trooper observed three adult women and a baby inside a black Hyundai sedan. One woman, later identified as Bowman, spotted the police unit pulling into the parking lot, and fled the scene.
The trooper spoke with the two remaining women who said Bowman drove them there to meet a male. However, both denied they had any knowledge of the male’s identity. Both women also said Bowman was the baby’s mother.
Hotel staff said they hadn’t seen Bowman recently, but that she did come regularly to visit a male. It was found the male had an active warrant, and he was taken into custody during an unrelated incident.
The male told state police Bowman had left his hotel room hours earlier, and he didn’t know of her whereabouts. The two women said they hadn’t discussed with Bowman about caring for her baby but were willing to.
“[Bowman] abandoned her child … when she observed police,” Tolbert said in the affidavit, adding she has a “history” of drug use and criminal charges pending against her.
The trooper was granted consent to search the vehicle, including all its contents. From inside the vehicle, he reportedly seized glass smoking pipes with residue.
Inside Bowman’s purse and personal belongings, Tolbert reportedly found loaded and unloaded needles, miscellaneous caps, needles containing white powdery substances, rolling papers, a rubber cap containing black waxy substances, a metallic spoon with residue, a scale with a white powdery substance and a taser.
Tolbert said Bowman didn’t return to check on the well-being of her baby for more than two hours. The county’s Children, Youth & Family Services office was subsequently called to take custody of the baby.
