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Norwalk Police Investigating Possible Link Between Drug Arrest, Fatal Crash

NORWALK, Conn. -- The police pursuit that ended in the death of the fleeing driver Thursday morning started when an officer was responding to an unrelated call about a police foot chase of a man wanted on numerous charges, Norwalk Police said Friday.

Norwalk man, Vincent Shaqui Fowlkes,  died after the car he was driving slammed into rocks and trees on Geneva Road just after 11 a.m. as he was being pursued by Norwalk Police.

Norwalk man, Vincent Shaqui Fowlkes, died after the car he was driving slammed into rocks and trees on Geneva Road just after 11 a.m. as he was being pursued by Norwalk Police.

Photo Credit: John Haffey

Vincent Shaqui Fowlkes, of 28 N. Taylor Ave., was pronounced dead after he was taken to Norwalk Hospital after teh crash Thursday on Geneva Road, police said. The passenger in the 2008 Honda Civic, Shawn Lavandi Bowman, 19, also of 28 N. Taylor Ave., remained in the hospital in serious condition, police said. No police officers were injured in the incident, police said.

The first incident began as Norwalk Police officers were seeking Michael Massey, 27, of 76 Taylor St., and had information he was in the Colonial Village area, police said. Officers arrived on the scene at about 11 a.m. and saw him get into a vehicle they were watching, police said. 

As officers closed in, Massey ignored police commands, attempted to drive away and nearly hit a couple of officers, police said. He abandoned the vehicle within the housing complex and fled on foot, but he was soon found in an apartment and placed under arrest, police said.

Massey is facing multiple drug counts and was held on $250,000 bond.

A responding officer heard of the pursuit and, for reasons that are still part of the investigation, began a pursuit of the Honda Civic, police said. Police are still trying to piece together the two incidents to see whether they are at all related, Norwalk Police spokesman Lt. Terry Blake said Friday.

In a statement issued Thursday night, State Police — which is handling the investigation into the deadly crash — said Fowlkes was driving a Civic LX owned by a Stamford woman. He was attempting to elude a Norwalk police officer who was trying to make a traffic stop when the pursuit and crash occurred in the residential neighborhood, police said.

The Civic was westbound on Geneva Road just after 11 a.m. when it failed to make a right curve in the roadway near Candlewood Lane, police said. The vehicle spun clockwise and slammed into rocks at 27 Geneva Road, then continued spinning and slammed into a tree at 31 Geneva Road, police said. The car made impact on its left side and came to a final rest in a stream on the property, police said.

Norwalk Police said narcotics were found in the Civic.

At the request of Norwalk Police and the State’s Attorney’s Office, the investigation was handed over to state police to handle.

Anyone who witnessed the crash or events leading up to the crash are asked to contact Trooper First Class Albert Gorski at 203-630-5639 or at Albert.Gorski@ct.gov.

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