Hialeah cop shoots, wounds suspect after carjacking and chase. Police say he was armed
A Hialeah officer shot and injured a man police said was brandishing a gun after a carjacking and chase that ended Thursday afternoon in the city of North Miami.
The suspect, who is expected to survive, was part of a group of three men who hijacked a car in Hialeah and were later chased by police into the neighboring city, a law enforcement source said. The trio, one of them armed, bailed from the car. One officer shot the gunman, police said, and after a brief foot chase, two other suspects also were taken into custody.
The wounded man’s condition was not immediately available. He was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.
“We are fortunate to have taken three very dangerous criminals off our streets,” said Hialeah Police spokesman Eddie Rodriguez.
A law enforcement source identified the wounded man as Fabeon Anwonya Keno Bowleg, 20, of Opa-locka. State records show he’s had several run-ins with police in the past, including at least one for carjacking. As of early evening Thursday, Bowleg had not been charged with any crimes related to the carjacking.
Police say the events that led to the shooting began at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday when an 83-year-old man driving a 2017 Ford Escape got out of his vehicle near East 11th Avenue and East 20th Street. The victim said a man approached, pointed a gun at his head and demanded the keys.
The victim told police he handed over his car keys and three men got into the Escape and took off. A few hours later, still in Hialeah, an officer spotted and pursued the car. The chase ended at Northwest 15th Avenue and 127th Street in North Miami, with the three men fleeing from the Escape, one holding a weapon, police said.
An unidentified Hialeah officer shot the armed man and the other two were captured shortly afterward. Rodriguez said a firearm was recovered at the scene. A law enforcement source identified the two men captured on foot as brothers Eymon Leatherwood, 19, and Emanuel Leatherwood, 20. They also had not been charged by Thursday evening.
Miami-Dade and North Miami police were visible at the scene, though it wasn’t clear if they took part in the chase. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting.
State records show that Bowleg was arrested in June 2019 on a different carjacking charge in Opa-locka. According to a Miami-Dade police arrest report, he and another teen took a woman’s Toyota Corolla and purse at gunpoint, then led officers on a car chase.
At one point during that chase, police said, Bowleg opened fire on officers from the passenger seat before the two abandoned the car and successfully escaped on foot. The outcome of the juvenile court case was not immediately clear.
The Leatherwood brothers, state records show, were arrested by Miami Gardens police in April on firearm possession charges. At the time, both were on probation for earlier criminal cases. Eymon is still awaiting trial. Prosecutors declined to press the gun charge against Emanuel, although he is still awaiting a hearing on an accusation he violated his earlier probation.
