For the second time in as many months, Prince George’s County police are mourning the loss of one of their own in traffic accident.
Police Officer First Class Kevin Bowden, who had been a member of the department for six years, died Oct. 18. According to police, Bowden, 28, was off duty and driving his marked police cruiser northbound on Branch Avenue in Clinton, Md., about 3:05 p.m. when he collided with another car near the intersection of Surratts Road. After the collision, Bowden’s car ran into a utility pole, police said.
Bowden, the married father of two children who was born in Clinton and graduated from Surrattsville High School, was taken to Southern Maryland Hospital in Clinton, where he later died.
The driver of the second car was also taken to Prince George’s Hospital for treatment of injuries that were not believed to be life threatening.
At a news conference Oct. 19, Police Chief Mark Magaw told reporters that a preliminary investigation showed that the driver of the SUV that collided with Bowden’s sedan may have caused the collision. The driver is suspected of crossing several lanes of traffic and hitting Bowden. Police said Bowden was driving over the speed limit and that he was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.
The death of Bowden, who was assigned to District IV and lived in Clinton, followed the death in August of Police Officer First Class Adrian Morris, who was killed when his police cruiser crashed during a chase on I-95 in Laurel.