WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — A West Hartford man was arrested on charges in connection to a road rage incident that ended up with another man being threatened and hit with a gun.
Christopher Rung, 53, of West Hartford, was charged early Thursday with assault 2nd degree with a firearm, threatening 1st degree, reckless endangerment and breach of peace. Police said he was held on a $250,000 dollar bond pending his arraignment which was scheduled for Thursday.
Late Wednesday evening, a driver came into West Hartford Police Department to report that he was the victim of a road rage incident approximately two hours earlier, which ended with the suspect pointing a firearm at him.
This all started in Simsbury on Route 185 Wednesday night just before 9 p.m., according to an incident report obtained by FOX61.
The victim told police, that the incident began in Simsbury where the suspect cut in front of the victim while driving aggressively. The victim followed the suspect, ultimately ending at the suspect's home in West Hartford.
“He explained to us that he was driving down the road in Simsbury when a car came up behind him at a high rate of speed and then cut him off,” Assistant Chief Lawrence Terra, West Hartford PD said.
Police said the suspect got out of his vehicle with a handgun and walked up to the victim's vehicle, reached inside of the vehicle, pointed the handgun and threatened to kill the victim.
The victim fled the area when the suspect removed the gun from the passenger side window and later reported the incident to West Hartford Police.
The suspect was taken into custody without incident at his home.
The incident report states that the victim lowered their passenger side window and said “what’s your problem, buddy?” The investigating officer states that during this time, what sounds like a handgun can be heard being racked and later, the victim said Rung hit his arm with the handgun. Police say no shots were fired. Later, the report indicates Rung said “Get the f*** off my property.”
The victim then said, “I’m not on your property.” The report then indicates Rung replied, “I’m going to put a f***ing bullet right through your f***ing brain a******.” The report writes that this happened as he allegedly points a gun at the victim’s head. The two continue to argue and the victim eventually leaves, reporting the incident to the police around 11:45 p.m.
“Don’t pursue the other person. If you can, get the license plate and call police. That’s why we’re here. We don’t want anyone getting hurt,” Terra said.
Police later took Rung into custody without incident. His pistol permit, several firearms, and ammunition were seized by police pending a firearms risk warrant
According to a AAA study from 2016, approximately 8 million drivers engaged in extreme examples of road rage like confronting another driver or ramming another vehicle. AAA said it’s best not to engage.
“You don’t know what’s going on with that driver: they could have had a really bad day, they could have just gotten horrible news and you don’t want to exacerbate whatever is going on in that other vehicle,” Tracy Noble, Spokesperson, AAA Greater Hartford, said.
FOX61 reached out to Rung for comment but he hasn’t responded to our request.
Doug Stewart is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
Elisha Machado is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at emachado@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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