WILTON – A Wilton man may be cruising for a criminal bruising after he allegedly broke into the unoccupied town police station early Tuesday and helped himself to a spare cruiser, which he promptly proceeded to crash twice, police said.

According to police, Robert Bowden, 28, who apparently had failed earlier to get a ride to Franklin Memorial Hospital, then decided to drive himself. He pried open a side window to the police station, got inside, then opened the station overhead door and drove away in the spare cruiser.

The cruiser had the keys in it, said Wilton police Officer Kevin McCutcheon. McCutcheon was on patrol, he said, and the station was not staffed at the time.

Bowden drove into Harnden’s Orchard field off Main Street, about a mile from the station, tearing up the underside of the cruiser, Officer Terry Warren said. Both back and front fender covers were ripped, the radiator was punctured and the fuel line ripped out, he added.

Police followed the tracks down to the intersection of Main Street and Route 2 in Wilton, about three miles from the station, where the vehicle went into a ditch in front of the bowling alley, he said.

Police said Bowden gave them a full confession.

Initially, the Somerset County dispatch system had alerted Farmington police that one of their cruisers was in a ditch, but it turned out to be a Wilton vehicle, McCutcheon said.

Farmington and Wilton police eventually located Bowden about a mile from the cruiser, walking toward Farmington, McCutcheon said.

He was covered with grass and scratches, he said.

Bowden then asked to go to Franklin Memorial Hospital for a mental health evaluation, and police took him. There, they learned that Bowden had called the hospital earlier looking for a ride to visit a newborn baby there, McCutcheon said.

A court provision prevents Bowden from coming into contact with the baby, he said.

Bowden was charged early Tuesday with felony operating under the influence, being a habitual offender, burglary and theft by unauthorized taking, said Warren. More charges are pending in connection with a separate incident, he said.

Bowden is at the Franklin County jail on a probation hold and is expected to be arraigned today, Warren said.

The cruiser was inoperable after the second crash, he said. There was no estimate of damage Tuesday.

Copy the Story Link