Posted on 06/13/2014 8:10:07 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
A Hagerstown man who was driving a car when his front-seat passenger pointed a shotgun at a tractor-trailer driver during a road-rage incident last year on Interstate 81 was sentenced on Thursday to one year in the Washington County Detention Center.
Washington County Circuit Court Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. sentenced Vincent Saunders, 22, of West Washington Street to serve five years in prison with all but one year suspended.
Long ruled that Saunders would serve the one-year sentence at the county jail and granted him work-release privileges within the state.
"This is at least the third case I've had of someone brandishing a weapon on the highway because they're unhappy with the way things are going," Long said before making his ruling. "It's mind-boggling people think they can do this."
In addition to the jail sentence, Long gave Saunders three years of unsupervised probation upon being released and said Saunders could never own firearms again.
Saunders pleaded guilty on Thursday to one charge of second-degree assault in connection with the incident. Five other charges, including one count of first-degree assault, were dropped in exchange for the plea.
Washington County Assistant State's Attorney Brett Wilson told the court that the incident happened on April 2, 2013.
Wilson said a tractor-trailer driver called 911to report that the passenger of a red car rolled down the window and pointed a shotgun at him on I-81 near the intersection of U.S. 40.
Hagerstown police spotted a car that matched a description given by the truck driver and confronted the occupants of the vehicle in the city's West End, according to Wilson.
He said the driver of the vehicle willingly gave officers a detailed account of the road-rage incident and told police a shotgun was in the trunk of the car.
Saunders admitted that he was angered easily during traffic incidents and told police that the driver of the tractor-trailer cut off his vehicle earlier that night, Wilson said.
He said Saunders' passenger, Brandon Scott Castle, 21, rolled down the window of the car and pointed the shotgun at the driver of the tractor-trailer.
Castle was sentenced last month in circuit court to serve eight years in prison, with all but 18 months suspended, according to online court records.
Wilson said Castle is serving that 18-month sentence at the county jail.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
If the passenger was the one who pointed the gun, shouldn’t he/she be the one going to jail?
He’s already there.
Uh, he did.....
so, the driver is responsible for anything stupid done by any passenger in his vehicle?
**Castle was sentenced last month in circuit court to serve eight years in prison, with all but 18 months suspended, according to online court records.**
What’s the point of the 8-yr sentence then? Sounds a bit convoluted to me - just put him away for 18 months, no? What am I missing?
Sounds like the driver was fully involved in the incident.
What’s the point of the 8-yr sentence then? Sounds a bit convoluted to me - just put him away for 18 months, no? What am I missing?
The balance will be probation, with the full sentence to be reinstated if he violates probation.
Short leash for a long time.
I think the judges ruling might be a clue as to the correct answer.
I thought everyone already knew that.
Apparently not.
The driver of the car lost his temper for being cut off. His tantrum encouraged his passenger to act out. This is what happens when people are bullies and believe that belligerence is appropriate. Sorry, but one is as bad as the other.
I fail to see how the driver is responsible for anything but his own behavior in this instance. If he violated a law or laws with that behavior, charge him legitimately. Don’t charge him for the illegal behavior of someone else.
Where did you get that from what I said? But, when a felony is committed by an individual who is accompanying one or more others, they can all be held responsible, and very frequently are. For instance, if you and a buddy hold up a liquor store, and your buddy kills the clerk, you can go down for murder with your buddy.
Wow! Driver sounds like a fool, but the sentence seems quite harsh. Admittedly, I know nothing about the law.
the perps are idiots but why any jail time?.....our jails are crowded with murderers and rapists and illegals and why jail two idiots?....make them do community service and pay a fine...
Fixed it.
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