Douglas County sheriff urges calm after making 2 road rage arrests in a day

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. ( KDVR ) — The Douglas County sheriff is reminding drivers to stay calm while driving after two arrests were made in two separate road rage incidents on Sunday, both involving weapons.

One happened on Interstate 25 at Wolfensberger Road in Castle Rock just before 4 p.m. Sunday. The victim reported a driver pointed a gun at him as they drove next to each other before continuing north. Sheriff Darren Weekly said that the driver was later found to be driving under the influence.

The other incident happened earlier in the day, around 11:30 a.m. in the area near Hilltop Road and Alpine Drive. The victim in that incident, who wished to remain anonymous, said a driver was getting too close to her.

“I was being kind of closely followed so when we hit the stop sign, I put my hand out to this guy behind me, like, back off,” she said.

The driver didn’t back off.

“He reached over to his passenger side and I jokingly said, ‘Is he going to grab a gun?’” the victim recalled.

That’s exactly what he grabbed. The victim said she saw the driver pointing it into the air out of the driver’s side window and firing a shot.

“I pulled over and he went around and shot three more times,” she said.

The victim was stunned.

“Fear I think came a little bit later, it was more just immediate kind of a shock, like, what is he doing?” she said.

But she thought to take down the driver’s license plate while she called 911.

Law enforcement partners help arrest menacing suspect

The number, as well as a description of the driver, led to a quick arrest with help from the Lone Tree Police Department.

“In Douglas County, we’re very blessed to have amazing law enforcement partners,” Weekly said.

He said road rage arrests like the two on Sunday are not common but still urged drivers to stay calm while behind the wheel.

“It’s natural to be angry or upset but you need to cool down, cool down your emotions,” Weekly said. “It’s not worth going to jail over, and that’s exactly what happened in these cases.”

He said the victims in both cases had the right response.

“If they find themselves in circumstances like that, don’t take matters into their own hands, call law enforcement and let us deal with it,” Weekly said.

The victim said the sheriff’s office also responded well and is thankful the suspect was found.

“They did amazing work,” she said.

Weekly said that during the arrests, guns were found in both vehicles. The suspect in the Hilltop Road incident faces charges of felony menacing, prohibited use of a weapon and reckless endangerment. The suspect in the I-25 incident faces charges of felony menacing, prohibited use of a weapon, driving under the influence and disorderly conduct.

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