Two people were arrested Monday in connection with a road rage incident earlier this month on northbound Interstate 205 that ended with gunshots in central Vancouver.
Tejay Nunya Castle, 31, and Montgomery A. Hedges, 36, both of Vancouver, were arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault and drive-by shooting. Court records show that Castle also faces an allegation of harassment (previous conviction or threat to kill), and Hedges is also accused of unlawful possession of a firearm. Both were booked into the Clark County Jail, according to a news release from the Vancouver Police Department.
Safe Streets Task Force detectives, the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force and Vancouver police patrol, with assistance from the Lower Columbia SWAT Team, located the suspects. The news release did not say where.
Castle and Hedges were scheduled to appear Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court on the allegations, but Castle’s hearing was set over a day; a judge set their bail at $100,000 and $200,000, respectively.
The road rage incident occurred around 7 p.m. May 12 and involved a light blue, two-door Honda Civic. It ended near the 7500 block of Northeast 41st Street when the Civic’s driver fired multiple rounds at the victim’s vehicle. At least one round hit the victim’s vehicle, but he was uninjured, police said.
Prior to the shooting, the victim and suspects, later identified by police as Hedges and Castle, had met in a parking lot in the 8400 block of Northeast Vancouver Mall Drive, and an argument ensued. The victim said Hedges was holding his waistband and appeared to be concealing a gun, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Shortly after the argument, shots were fired. Investigators recovered a shell casing in the area, as well as five more casings between the 4600 and 4700 blocks of Northeast 77th Avenue. They determined the casings came from two different firearms, the affidavit says.
The next day, a blue, two-door Honda Civic was involved in a rollover crash near Northeast 59th Street and Northeast 147th Avenue. The driver ran from the scene, court records state.
Investigators searched the car and recovered a firearm. They also used store receipts and other items found inside to identify Hedges and Castle as the suspects in the shooting, according to the affidavit.
Hedges allegedly admitted to firing one round at the victim and said the firearm recovered from the wrecked Honda was the same. Investigators said he also admitted to wrecking the car and fleeing, court records say.
