Man allegedly points handgun in road rage incident

A 34-year-old Tumwater man was charged with first-degree assault after allegedly pointing a gun at another driver last Monday, October 16.

 At 10:01 p.m., an Olympia man called 911 seeking assistance after another driver allegedly pointed a firearm at him after a chase that began when both were traveling southbound on Highway 101 toward Tumwater.

According to the alleged victim, he was on his way home from work when a high-speed vehicle suddenly approached him on the highway.

He merged in behind the suspect vehicle, but the suspect's car abruptly slowed to a near stop on the highway.

This prompted the man to pass the vehicle, which seemed to agitate the other driver, leading the suspect to pull up next to the victim and abruptly cut in front of him.

The suspect began following the alleged victim, disregarding traffic rules and nearly causing a collision with cross traffic at an intersection.

At a red light, the suspect pulled up alongside the alleged victim's vehicle, allegedly yelling threats, including saying, "Do you want to die?" according to the Tumwater Police report.

At this point, the alleged victim noticed the suspect pointing a black handgun at him.

Fearing for his life, the alleged victim ran the red light to escape from the suspect, but the suspect continued to tail him, even at another red light.

During the chase, the victim called 911 seeking assistance, saying that “the suspect had the gun pointed at him approximately 10 times during the altercation”.

The suspect finally pulled ahead of alleged victim’s vehicle, and the victim managed to catch a glimpse of the suspect's license plate before the assailant drove away.

The responding officers identified the owner of the vehicle, proceeded to his address and arrested him.

In a statement to law enforcement, the suspect claimed that he had been distraught about his grandmother’s dying condition and attributed his behavior to emotional turmoil.

Although he admitted to chasing the man who called 911,  the suspect denied pointing a gun at the victim, stating, "I was pissed at that guy because he cut me off. I might have pointed my finger at him, but not a gun."

However, the alleged victim positively identified the suspect as the one who had pursued and threatened him, leading to a search warrant for the suspect's residence, where they discovered a black Walther CCP 9mm pistol in a black holster.

The suspect was taken into custody and booked at Thurston County Jail on charges of first-degree assault.