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October 24, 2008

Road rage leads to arrests

By Rich Flowers News Editor

The Henderson County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a possible episode of road rage Wednesday afternoon, in which a gunshot was allegedly fired at a vehicle. No one was injured in the incident.

Michael Lee Crist II, 19, and Ryan Maurice Simpson, 22, both from the Gun Barrel City area, remained in the Henderson County Jail on Friday. Bond on Crist was set at $25,000 for one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Simpson was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and held in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Lt. David McWilliams said the incident took place on State Highway 31, east of Athens, near the Farm-to-Market-Road 317 exit. The shot was fired from a Chevrolet Suburban into the right rear fender of an older model passenger car.

The driver of the second vehicle called 9-1-1. Deputies responded and located the Suburban on Farm-to-Market Road 314 southeast of Brownsboro.

“They had already thrown the gun out of the vehicle,” McWilliams said. “They haven’t recovered the weapon yet. It was probably a small caliber handgun.”

McWilliams described the event as a typical case of road rage where one vehicle pulls in front of another and the other passes the first vehicle then slows down. McWilliams said authorities are not certain who fired the shot.

McWilliams said the suspects have been in trouble with the law on previous occasions. Simpson was arrested in 2004 for criminal mischief and criminal trespass and in February 2008 for theft of property. Crist was arrested for theft of property in 2006 and possession of marijuana in 2008.

Deputy Michael Teal is investigating the incident.

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