Eight weeks after a motorist opened fire with a rifle on a Waggaman street during a road rage confrontation, injuring another driver, authorities have jailed a suspect.
Jamel Cole, 23, of Waggaman, was booked Tuesday with aggravated second-degree battery, aggravated flight from an officer, resisting an officer and a number of outstanding attachments, according to Sgt. Brandon Veal, a spokesperson for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.
The shooting occurred just before 9:30 p.m. on April 3. The victim, a 21-year-old man, was driving westbound in a pickup truck on Sarah Street when he abruptly stopped at the intersection of Liska Street (map), according to a Sheriff's Office report.
A red Dodge Challenger stopped behind the truck. The car's driver, later identified as Cole, got out, according to video recorded by a nearby home surveillance camera. Cole allegedly accused the truck's driver of stopping short in front of his vehicle two or three times before opening fire with a rifle, the Sheriff's Office report said.
The 21-year-old motorist was shot in the leg as bullets hit his driver's-side door, two tires and the truck's rear fender, according to authorities. Bullets also pierced two nearby homes and hit another vehicle. No one else was injured, the Sheriff's Office said.
The victim drove off as Cole sped away in the other direction, according to authorities. Deputies tried to pull over the Challenger near the intersection of Holmes and Judith streets in Waggaman (map), but Cole refused to stop, Veal said.
He led deputies on a brief chase that ended after he crashed into two parked vehicles in the 300 block of Mitchell Street in Waggaman (map), the Sheriff's Office said. Cole then jumped out of the car and escaped from deputies by running through backyards.
Investigators identified him through a wallet left behind at the scene. The Dodge Challenger was also registered to Cole, Veal said.
Cole was arrested in Tangipahoa Parish before being transported back to Jefferson Parish on Tuesday, Veal said.
Cole was being held Thursday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna. Bail was set at $104,375.