FLINT — Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said a jury has found a Swartz Creek man guilty of four felonies related to a February incident in which he led police on an 14-mile chase from Mundy Township to Davison and fired shots at police.
Robert Joseph Nowotny, 41, is convicted of Assault With Intent to Murder, Fleeing and Eluding Police Third Degree, Felony Firearm, and Carrying a Concealed Weapon.
According to investigative reports and testimony at trial, on February 27, 2025, officers from the Metro Police Authority responded to citizen reports of a suspicious van driving in a neighborhood with a very loud exhaust in the vicinity of Linden and Hill Roads. Police spotted the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop in the parking lot of the Meijer store on Hill Road.
The driver, later identified as Nowotny, lowered his driver’s side window about an inch and refused to comply with an officer’s instruction to provide identification. As officers were talking to Nowotny, he put his van in gear and began driving away.
Officers got back into their cruisers and began chasing Nowotny north on Torrey Road and east on
Bristol Road. As officers were chasing Nowotny at speeds which never exceeded 40 miles per hour, Nowotny ran numerous red lights and crossed into the lanes of approaching traffic. At one point early in the chase, the rear driver’s side wheel on Nowotny’s van came off and it caused a continuous streak of sparks from the rear area of the van as it dragged on the pavement the entire rest of the chase. The rear of the van eventually became engulfed in flames and Nowotny stopped near M-15 and Bristol Road in Davison Township.
With police vehicles slowly approaching the scene of the engulfed van, Nowotny exited and immediately turned toward police, pointed a pistol at them and emptied ten rounds of ammunition which penetrated an officer’s windshield and car seat, barely missing the officer.
The officer exited his cruiser and returned fire striking Nowotny who fell to the pavement. Nowotny was immediately apprehended and handcuffed.
“This incident shows the life-threatening danger police officers may face at any time, even during a routine traffic stop,” said Prosecutor Leyton after the verdict was announced. “Fortunately and miraculously, no officers or citizens were killed or injured,” he said.
Prosecutor Leyton credited Assistant Prosecutor Sam Fleet and his team of support staff for successfully taking the case to trial and “the brave work of the men and women from the Metro Police Authority and assisting agencies.”
Nowotny faces up to life in prison or any term of years when he is sentenced on February 2.
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