LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Police in Kentucky have arrested an 18-year-old in what they describe as a “road rage incident” that led to a shooting.
Louisville Metro police said the victim was trying to protect his son when he was shot in the head and arm on March 10, news outlets reported.
In the initial encounter between their two vehicles, the man’s son was pulled from their car and assaulted by six suspects, until his father got out with a baseball bat and the assailants returned to their own car, authorities said.
Police said 18-year-old Michael Taylor dropped his phone during the scuffle and then followed the family to demand its return.
After the father and son told them they didn’t have the phone, “multiple shots were fired” from Taylor’s vehicle, striking the father in the head and arm, according to an arrest warrant.
The father survived the shooting but still has fragments in his head and arm, authorities said.
Taylor’s phone, meanwhile, was found by officers, who heard from Taylor himself on March 18. Taylor contacted the police on March 18, saying he wanted to recover his phone “which was stolen by the police,” authorities said.
Taylor was arrested Monday when police stopped him in the vehicle they identified from the March 10 incident. Officers said marijuana was in plain view in the car, and a stolen firearm was in the center console.
Taylor pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges of first-degree assault, wanton endangerment and possession of marijuana, and was held on $50,000 bond. It’s unclear whether he had an attorney who would comment on his behalf.
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