SPOKANE
VALLEY, Wash – What began as a Monday morning commute ended in a shocking case
of "road rage" in Spokane Valley.
Spokane
County Sheriff's Deputies say the victim was driving to work on Dishman Mica
around 6:30 a.m. Monday, and was stopped at a light near Schafer. The car in front of him was having trouble
getting started on the snow, so the victim told police he went around the car in
the other lane.
But when he
got to the light at Dishman Mica & 8th, the suspect, later
identified as Darren Palmer, 46, pulled up next to him, rolled down his window,
and waved a silver pistol with a scope at him.
Deputies say
Palmer fired a shot into the victim's front passenger tire, blowing it out. The victim was able to get his license plate
number and called 911.
That victim
spoke with KHQ Tuesday, and said the whole thing "seems surreal," and that you
"see this kind of thing happen, but you never expect it to happen to you."
The victim
told deputies he feared for his life when the pistol was pulled, and told KHQ
he's glad nobody was hurt in the ordeal.
When
deputies contacted Palmer, he admitted to shooting out the tire, but said it was
because the victim had cut him off.
In his first
court appearance Tuesday, Palmer's defense attorney told the judge Palmer is on
new medication for a back injury that may be causing a change in behavior, and
that his wife would testify she's never seen Palmer be violent.
The judge in
the case told Palmer, "I know other people's driving habits can be frustrating,
but you took this well beyond a reasonable response," and "once that bullet left
your gun, who knows were it could have gone."
Palmer
doesn't have much of a criminal history, only one misdemeanor from 2001. He's now in jail on $35,000 bail.
KHQ reached
out to both Palmer and his wife for comment Tuesday, but both declined.
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