A Montgomery County judge found a Pennsburg man guilty of aggravated assault and related charges after prosecutors said he fired at police officers during a 10-mile pursuit and standoff that stretched across Bucks and Montgomery Counties last year. Charles Bowne III was convicted following a brief bench trial.
Montgomery County Court Judge William Carpenter delivered the verdict after the short trial, according to inquirer.com, which reported that prosecutors said Bowne fired a .44 Magnum revolver multiple times at officers from several jurisdictions during the pursuit in June 2025. The outlet reports Bowne is 37, while WFMZ lists his age as 35; the discrepancy between the two reports has not been resolved. Charges filed against Bowne included aggravated assault, robbery, assaulting a law enforcement officer, fleeing from an officer, possession of a weapon, and related charges, per the station's report.
How the Chase Began in Marlborough Township
The case traces back to June 2025, when Marlborough police responded to the 1700 block of Swamp Creek Road in Marlborough Township. According to the station's account, Bowne allegedly pointed a gun at a bicyclist, stole the bicyclist's bicycle, and shot at the victim as the victim ran away. Officers pulled in behind Bowne's Mustang, and the pursuit was on.
Bowne then fired multiple shots directly at a pursuing officer as the chase unfolded, the same account states. No officer was struck or injured during that exchange, according to the report. The pursuit carried the chase out of Montgomery County and into Bucks County before it reached its next phase.
A Standoff That Ended With a Phone Call
Charging documents reported at the time by mainlinemedianews.com state that Bowne stopped his vehicle in the 1800 block of Ridge Road in West Rockhill Township, Bucks County, at 12:13 p.m. That account describes the alleged gunfire as continuing from the bicyclist encounter through the route of travel into Bucks County, with Bowne firing shots at the officer and his vehicle along the way.
Once Bowne stopped, the standoff began, and WFMZ reports that it ended just before 2:30 p.m. The mainlinemedianews.com account, drawing on the original charging report, specifies that Bowne was taken into custody peacefully at 2:42 p.m. after a crisis negotiator reached him by telephone. That same source said no one was injured during the alleged incident, according to authorities at the time.
Police recovered three firearms from Bowne after his arrest, per WFMZ's report. The earlier mainlinemedianews.com account specified that officers seized three firearms from his vehicle, including a Ruger .44-caliber Magnum, a Century Arms pistol, and a Ruger .22 long rifle.
What's Next for Bowne
Bowne will be sentenced at a later date, according to court paperwork cited by WFMZ, and the Inquirer similarly reports that sentencing is expected in the coming months. Neither report specifies a sentencing date or identifies which statutory subsections of Pennsylvania's aggravated-assault law underpin each of his convictions.
Pennsylvania's aggravated assault statute, administered by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, covers attempts to cause, or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing, serious bodily injury to specified law enforcement officers. Under that law, offenses falling under certain subsections are graded as first-degree felonies, while others are graded as second-degree felonies. A related statute addressing assault of a law enforcement officer by firearm sets a maximum term of not more than 40 years for convictions under its most serious subsection, though the evidence in this case does not establish which subsections apply to Bowne's convictions.
