Annapolis Man Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter, Assault Charges After Fatally Injuring Passenger During 2020 Incident

ANNAPOLIS (WJZ) -- An Annapolis man pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault charges stemming from a 2020 incident where he tried to hit a police officer with his truck and fatally injured a female passenger who was thrown from the car as he fled the scene, Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess announced on Friday.

In July 2020, members of the Anne Arundel County Police Department's Fugitive Apprehension Team started looking for David Bogdanowicz, 53, on several outstanding warrants for assault, trespassing and violation of probation.

Officers found him three days later driving a stolen truck at Church Street and Ritchie Highway in Brooklyn, prosecutors said.

Bogdanowicz drove into the parking lot of a liquor store and tried to go back toward Church Street, but an officer had positioned his car to block him.

The officer said he heard a woman in the car, Jennifer Patterson, asking Bogdanowicz to stop the truck, prosecutors said.

Following multiple commands by police to stop, Bogdanowicz reversed the truck toward Det. Kenneth Edmonds, who fired two shots at the vehicle.

After running over a stop sign, jumping a curve and entering the intersection of Sixth and Church streets, Bogdanowicz sped off as Patterson was trying to escape, causing her to get thrown from the vehicle. Prosecutors said the rear wheel ran over her leg. Patterson later died.

Police lost track of the truck but later canvassed the area and found Bogdanowicz hiding behind a parked vehicle.

"The defendant used his vehicle as a weapon," Leitess said in a statement. "Not only did he attempt to hit a law enforcement officer with his vehicle to evade arrest but his actions also took the life of his passenger, Ms. Jennifer Patterson."

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 2. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 35 years in prison, suspend all but 25 years.