Man charged with two road-rage shootings in St. Paul charged with third felony
Authorities say he pointed a gun at a third vehicle the day before his arrest.
A Minneapolis man charged earlier this week with shooting a gun at other motorists in two separate road rage incidents in St. Paul was also charged with waving a gun at another motorist the day before he was arrested.
On Friday, James Allen Ameer Smith, 22, was charged with one felony count of threats of violence, intent to terrorize, for a Nov. 27 incident on Minnesota 77 near Minnesota 13 in Eagan.
Eagan incident
The criminal complaint alleges that at about 7:38 p.m. on Nov. 27, Smith came up behind a driver going southbound on Minnesota 77 at speeds so high the other driver applied his brakes to make sure Smith saw him and didn’t run into the back of his vehicle.
The driver said Smith became upset and pulled up beside him, swerving into his lane. Using the butt of a pistol, authorities allege, Smith turned on his vehicle’s interior light to show he had a gun. Smith then allegedly pointed the gun out the window at the other driver, who slowed and called 911 to report the incident, including providing the license plate of the vehicle authorities say Smith was driving.
On Monday, Smith was charged with eight felony counts in connection with two other road rage incidents in which he had shot at vehicles in October and November.
St. Paul incidents
At 8:50 p.m. on Oct. 12, a man reported that while in his Jeep with two children, his vehicle had been struck by a bullet while he was driving east on Summit Avenue near Lexington Parkway in St. Paul.
At about 8 a.m. on Nov. 14, another driver, a 33-year-old man, reported a road rage incident to St. Paul police, saying he had been shot at by another driver and that his car had been hit by a bullet.
In all three cases, the criminal complaints allege that Smith instigated the incidents by racing up and tailgating the other vehicles.
Smith was arrested Nov. 28 in St. Louis Park.
At the time of his arrest, authorities say, Smith was wearing an empty gun holster. While serving a search warrant, officers found a spent bullet casing on the driver’s side floor, three live rounds of ammunition in the center console, a live round of ammunition on floor behind the driver’s seat and a loaded Glock handgun beneath the front passenger’s seat.
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