ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — New information has been obtained by First Coast News about a suspected carjacking and kidnapping that ended with a crash outside the Kensington neighborhood in St. Johns County.
The woman driving the car is not facing kidnapping charges but is facing multiple charges of child neglect, drug possession and carrying a firearm without a license.
Police say three young children were found in the vehicle's backseat and one child in the front. Authorities say all were unbuckled and the driver claims only two are her own.
That discovery was made after law enforcement conducted a pit maneuver to stop the driver from getting away according to deputies.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office says St. Augustine police were called to a suspected armed kidnapping involving a gray Kia Soul and caught up with the driver north of downtown and began to follow the car.
For miles on U.S. 1, officers say the car drove erratically through parking lots and neighborhoods trying to get away from law enforcement.
In court Friday morning, the driver 28-year-old Nusha Bowman told the judge she was the one who was kidnapped and blamed the events on another woman.
“I have several witnesses that witnessed me getting kidnapped me and my kids, so by the time we got here to St. Augustine she decided she wanted to switch driving which was okay with me because I have some type of control," Bowman said.
St. Augustine Police Department now says there never was a carjacking or kidnapping. The arrest report doesn’t name the other woman in the car, only Bowman and the four children.
Officers say Bowman was driving on a suspended license and was in possession of a loaded gun and drug paraphernalia. She faces numerous felony charges.