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MILLCREEK — Two men are accused of shooting at a semitruck driver in a suspected road rage incident, and then crashing into another vehicle while trying to flee from police.
Tyler Joshua Foutz, 24, and Adrian David Brown, 22, who are both believed to be homeless, were each charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with six counts of shooting at a person and aggravated assault, third-degree felonies. Brown was also charged with failing to respond to an officer's stop signal, a third-degree felony; reckless endangerment, a class a misdemeanor; reckless driving and DUI, class B misdemeanors; and not having insurance, a class C misdemeanor.
A semitruck driver told Unified police that he was getting off I-80 at 700 East about 8:20 a.m. on Monday when another car "crossed four lanes of traffic and nearly ran him off the road," a police booking affidavit states. The man honked his horn at the two occupants, according to police.
"Brown slammed on his brakes several times. Brown and his passenger, Tyler Joshua Foutz, flipped off (the semi driver) and called (him) a racial slur," charging documents state.
Foutz and Brown and the other man, 22, then pulled up alongside the semitruck driver and "kept telling him to stop and were challenging him to a fight," the affidavit states.
When the truck driver turned to go east on 3300 South, Foutz's car followed, police said. The men then got in front of the semitruck and began "brake checking" the driver, who decided to pull over and stop, according to the affidavit.
But Foutz and the other man also stopped and got out of their car. The truck driver told police he met them outside of his rig and used pepper spray on the two men, the affidavit states. The men then got back in their car and seemingly drove off.
But when the truck driver turned around and got to 4200 South and 700 East, Foutz and the other man pulled up beside the semitruck and fired six rounds, according to the charges. No injuries were reported.
After police arrived, took a report from the truck driver and left the scene, the truck driver spotted the vehicle again and got the attention of officers in a nearby parking lot by honking his horn and pointing at the fleeing vehicle, the affidavit states.
An officer attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver refused to pull over. "He said the vehicle at one point was going 100 mph, north on 700 East. (The officer) said the vehicle traveled east on 3300 South at a high rate of speed, running the red light at 1300 East and colliding with another vehicle causing it to roll onto its roof," according to the affidavit.
One person in the vehicle that was hit was taken to a local hospital. The impact from that collision sent the vehicle into two other cars, the charges state. Police were able to take Foutz and Brown into custody before they could get out of their wrecked vehicle.
