A 22-year-old Brownsville man is being held without bond in connection to a road rage encounter in which someone was shot and injured.
Police allege that Joe Kevin Soto got out of his vehicle and shot a man and tried to shoot the man’s wife, Investigator Martin Sandoval, of the Brownsville Police Department said.
The shooting victim survived.
The road rage encountered happened June 6, and Soto was taken into custody Monday and arraigned on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of deadly conduct, police said.
Bond was denied on all the counts.
When officers responded at around 9:10 pm on June 6 to a call of shots fired, they arrived at the 400 block of Old Port Isabel Road in Brownsville to find blood and 45-caliber bullet casings.
Detectives with the Criminal Investigation Unit went to Valley Region Medical Center after hospital staff there reported treating a man with a gunshot wound, Sandoval said.
Detectives talked to the victim, “who claimed that a maroon SUV was trying to crash his vehicle. Both vehicles stopped at the 400 block of Old Port Isabel. The victim got out of his vehicle, and Soto exited the SUV. Soto then shot the victim and also attempted to shoot his passenger,” Sandoval said.
The victim and Soto exchanged words before the shots were fired, Sandoval said, adding that the victim didn’t remember what exactly was said.
The injured man’s wife drove him to the hospital, authorities said.
Sandoval said with the victim’s testimony and video surveillance from businesses in the area, detectives were able to identify the suspect and his vehicle.
Authorities urge motorists to be cautious when driving.
“If you see somebody that is tailgating, just move over to the side of the road,” Sandoval said. “If someone is trying to cut you off, give us a call, or if someone is following you call the police department and start heading down to the police department. Come to the police station and tell the dispatcher there’s a car following you and you’re afraid and you are heading to the police station that way we will know what kind of route you are taking.”
