‘Road rage’ altercation ends in shots fired

Posted 8/3/17

Austin Maddox, 23, has been charged with seven counts of aggravated assault for allegedly firing seven shots at a truck belonging to Evan Haywood, 26. Two of the shots reportedly hit Haywood’s vehicle.

Haywood, meanwhile, faces his own count of …

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‘Road rage’ altercation ends in shots fired

Posted

Two men charged with felonies

A weekend altercation between two Powell men culminated in one opening fire on the other’s truck in the Willwood area, authorities say.

Austin Maddox, 23, has been charged with seven counts of aggravated assault for allegedly firing seven shots at a truck belonging to Evan Haywood, 26. Two of the shots reportedly hit Haywood’s vehicle.

Haywood, meanwhile, faces his own count of aggravated assault for allegedly ramming Maddox’s truck and causing him to crash near the intersection of Lane 13 and Road 10 on Saturday afternoon.

It was shortly after the crash that Maddox reportedly began shooting.

Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Leda Pojman described the incident as “an extremely egregious and dangerous case of road rage.”

The two men gave differing accounts of the altercation to law enforcement and in circuit court on Monday.

“I understand what happened was dangerous,” Maddox said in court, but he said he acted in self defense after being threatened and run off the road by Haywood.

“I felt my life was in danger and I didn’t know what else to do,” Maddox said.

Pojman asked for Maddox’s bond to be set at $70,000 cash, citing concern about the safety of Park County citizens. Firing seven rounds at a moving vehicle, about 25 yards from a house, “I can’t think of anything more egregious and dangerous than that,” the prosecutor argued. Maddox said that was very high, arguing it was a case of self defense and saying he had not been in trouble before.

Calling it “a serious matter with multiple shots being fired in directions where there may be residences,” Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters set bond at $50,000 cash. Members of Maddox’s family posted that amount on Monday, and he was released from jail pending his next court date.

During his appearance in court, Haywood contended that Maddox had actually swerved into his vehicle.

“I personally did not involve myself in an act of road rage; this was brought upon me,” Haywood said.

Pojman recommended that Haywood’s bond be set at $20,000, cash only. That’s in part because Haywood was free on a signature bond at the time of Saturday’s altercation — awaiting trial on a felony drug case that alleges he possessed roughly 6.7 grams of methamphetamine with intent to deliver it in Powell last December. Haywood said that bond recommendation was a little high, arguing in part that he was needed by his family and that he’d obeyed his previous bond conditions.

Judge Waters adopted the prosecution’s recommendation and set Haywood’s bond at $20,000 in the new case.

“Let’s let things settle down a little bit,” Waters said, suggesting he might lower that amount at a later date.

Affidavits written by Park County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Rob Cooke and submitted in support of the charges allege that the Saturday incident began with an argument between Maddox’s wife and Haywood in the Willwood area south of Powell.

Maddox’s wife reportedly told the deputy that, after she and Haywood exchanged words, she got into her car and headed east, with Haywood right on her tail.

Having been told that Haywood was in the area, Maddox soon arrived in his truck. Cooke wrote that, by the account of Maddox’s wife, Haywood swerved toward Maddox’s truck, then pulled over and got out; meanwhile, Haywood reportedly told the deputy that Maddox almost ran him over when he got out of his vehicle.

Maddox and his wife drove off in their two vehicles, with Haywood again in pursuit, the affidavit says.

Cooke wrote that, according to Maddox’s wife, Haywood then pulled alongside Maddox and rammed the driver’s side of his truck. Haywood, however, “stated he was not the one that instigated the vehicle contact — that Austin Maddox did,” Cooke wrote.

Maddox wound up crashing.

“[Maddox’s wife] stated it appeared both trucks were locked together, as both vehicles were swerving back and forth on the road prior to going off the road,” Cooke wrote. “[She] stated there was a big cloud of dirt, then the vehicles came back on the road, with Austin Maddox’s truck finally going back off the road again, crashing through a fence.”

It was as Haywood prepared to turn around and leave that Maddox’s wife reportedly saw Maddox’s truck door open, heard gunshots and told Maddox to stop.

“I asked Austin [Maddox] if he shot at the vehicle and he stated he did,” Cooke wrote. “I asked how many times and he said he didn’t know.”

For his part, “Evan [Haywood] stated he knew he was being shot at, but didn’t know how many times,” Cooke wrote.

The deputy recovered Maddox’s Glock 22 .40 caliber pistol from the driver’s seat of his truck. He found six casings on the ground and a seventh in the passenger door of Maddox’s truck.

The crash was called into the Sheriff’s Office at 1:21 p.m.

A grandfather and his granddaughter — who’d been napping in a nearby house on Lane 13 — later told Cooke they’d awoken to the sound of tires squealing, yelling and what sounded like seven to eight gunshots or firecrackers.

Maddox had previously obtained a protection order that prohibited Haywood from having contact with him.

Preliminary hearings in the two cases — to determine whether there’s enough evidence for the cases to move forward — are tentatively set for Monday.

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