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SALT LAKE CITY — Prosecutors have requested that a man accused of firing a shot at another motorist while driving on I-15 in an apparent road rage incident be held without bail.
David Michael Moody, 47, of White City, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with illegal discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony.
State law enforcers also reported finding drugs and numerous handguns and rifles in Moody's home while serving a search warrant. Because of that, he was also charged Tuesday with 10 counts of possession of firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony; drug possession, a class A misdemeanor; and drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, both class B misdemeanors.
On Nov. 26 about 10 p.m., Moody was driving a Ford Ranger on I-15 between 3300 South and 4500 South when he became involved in a road rage incident with another vehicle, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.
The vehicle's driver claimed Moody cut him off so he flashed his "brights" at his truck and said Moody then "brake checked" him. The driver told police he changed lanes and Moody slowed down. When the two were side-by-side, the driver "looked over and saw Moody pointing a black and silver handgun at him," according to charging documents.
Moody, however, claimed it was the other driver who was tailgating him so he "tapped his brakes." When the victim pulled up next to Moody, he told investigators he got "nervous" and grabbed his handgun, the charges state. Moody said the other driver made a gesture with his finger, then put his arm down. When the man raised his arm again, Moody thought he "came back up with something" so he fired a shot, according to the charges.
The State Bureau of Investigation found a bullet lodged in the passenger door of the victim's car where the window had been.
"The window was completely shattered. The bullet didn't penetrate all the way through the door, but based on the trajectory, (the victim) was directly in the line of fire," the charges state. "The shot fired by (Moody) was less than an inch from penetrating through the vehicle and striking (the victim) and putting the rest of the monitoring public on a busy interstate at risk."
Investigators were able to use information collected by witnesses and track down Moody and arrest him.
Prosecutors have requested Moody be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without bail pending trial, "based on his willingness to fire a gun into a vehicle at another driver on the freeway," the charging documents say.
The incident is another example of what the Utah Department of Public Safety calls a disturbing rise in freeway shootings.
- On Monday, West Valley police were called to the Mountain View Corridor near 5400 South on a suspected road rage incident. Witnesses saw the drivers of two vehicles slowing down and yelling at each other through their open windows, according to police. At the 5400 South intersection, one of the vehicles was in the right turn lane, but ended up turning left in front of the other vehicle. The other vehicle attempted to follow but ended up hitting two other cars. When police arrived, the driver who remained on scene stated he had been shot. Investigators determined he was grazed by a bullet. That driver was also investigated for suspicion of DUI. As of Tuesday evening, the other driver had not been located.
- On Dec. 6, one man suffered minor injuries in a suspected road rage shooting on state Route 201 near 3800 West. Someone in a silver or white late 90s model Jeep Cherokee fired multiple rounds at the victims' vehicle, which had a baby in a car seat in the back. No arrests have been made in that case.
- Investigators are also still looking for the person who shot five cars on I-15 in Juab County during the early hours of Nov. 30. Two people were injured.
