- Sandy police arrested Antonio Martinez, 32, in connection with a road rage shooting.
- The incident involved a BB gun, shattering the victim's driver side window.
- Martinez was previously a suspect in a Jan. 8, 2024 road rage case, police say.
SANDY — Sandy police have arrested a West Valley man in connection with a road rage incident that ended in a shooting on Thursday. The same man was a suspect in a 2024 road rage incident, police say.
Around noon, two drivers got into a road rage confrontation, said Sandy Police Sgt. Michael Olsen. Details on what started the confrontation were still being investigated. One driver was in each vehicle with no passengers.
While both vehicles were headed south on State Street, the victim said he looked over at a vehicle that had quickly maneuvered to the side of him and saw the driver holding what looked like a dark handgun, according to a police booking affidavit.
(The victim) heard one, maybe two shots, as well as the sound of shattering glass," the affidavit states. The victim continued south and observed the gunman make a U-turn to go north "to get away from the scene."
The vehicle's driver's side window was shattered by the shots. "Based on the damage done to the vehicle, it was suspected the weapon utilized was a BB gun," police said.
The victim called 911 and waited for the police to arrive. Using cameras in the area and dashboard video from the driver, police identified and arrested Antonio Martinez, 32, and booked him into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault, improper discharge of a weapon from a vehicle and reckless driving.
Antonio Martinez was a suspect in a road rage incident in West Valley City on Jan. 8, 2024, when "he got into (an) altercation where he alleged someone had hit his vehicle and proceeded to assault the person he was alleging," the affidavit states.
"A search of the vehicle resulted in finding a Glock handgun replica that was a BB gun as well as multiple BB gun rounds," the arrest report says, adding that "firing a firearm, whether it be a BB gun or a firearm that shoots live ammunition at a person could cause serious bodily harm or death, especially under the circumstances of operating a motor vehicle."
