By JOHN M. HOOBER III, Staff
First, the Columbia woman was a victim of road rage on Route 283 near Elizabethtown, police said.
Then she became an alleged assault victim in the same area.
The woman told Northwest Regional police that the man who twice cut her off near the Cloverleaf Road exit got out of his SUV and pointed a rifle into her chest.
Thanks to an alert state police trooper, the alleged rifleman was found and arrested on multiple charges, Northwest Regional police Chief Sam Gatchell said.
Police identified him as Brent Davis Headley, 48, of Mechanicsburg.
Gatchell gave this account:
At 7:06 p.m. Wednesday, Northwest Regional police Officer Dan George responded to a report of an accident on Route 283 near the Cloverleaf Road (Elizabethtown/Rheems) exit in Mount Joy Township.
George couldn't find any evidence of a crash. About 15 minute later, the officer was told to contact a woman who had been the victim of a weapons offense at the same location as the accident.
George found the woman, who is 34 and from Columbia. She was weeping and, according to Gatchell, told the officer what happened.
She was driving west on Route 283, she said, when a sport-utility vehicle cut in front of her for no reason. She braked and changed lanes to avoid an accident. She continued driving in that lane, but the SUV driver again cut in front of her, causing her to brake.
Both drivers pulled over. As the woman started to get out of her car, she told police, the SUV driver walked up to her, started yelling at her, and "poked a rifle muzzle into her chest," Gatchell said.
The man got back into the SUV and headed west on Route 283. The woman had a description of his vehicle and most of the license number, but she was shaken and could not find her cell phone to call 911, Gatchell said.
She drove to a friend's house in Dauphin County and called 911. Dauphin County dispatchers relayed the information to authorities including state police in both Lancaster and Dauphin counties.
Police were told to be "on the lookout for the vehicle," Gatchell said.
Shortly before 8 p.m., Trooper Ronald Charles from the Harrisburg state police barracks spotted a vehicle matching the description on Route 581 in Cumberland County. The license number was close to what had been called in, Gatchell said.
The trooper conducted a felony stop on the SUV, which was operated by Headley, Gatchell said. He was the lone occupant, and inside the vehicle police found a .223 Remington rifle which had a round in the chamber, the chief said.
Police detained Headley and got in touch with George who brought the Columbia woman to the location of the vehicle stop to make identification.
"She identified the man. She said it was him," said Gatchell.
George charged Headley with with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and careless driving.
Magisterial Court Judge Robert A. Herman, Columbia, arraigned Headley, set bail at $10,000 and released the Mechanicsburg man on his own recognizance, Gatchell said.
Gatchell had praise for the work done by the Harrisburg trooper.
"Traffic was still heavy at that time. To pick a vehicle out like that is pretty good work."
In another case that stemmed from alleged road rage, a Manheim Township man will be charged with disorderly conduct and reckless driving, township police said.
Police said George A. Duncan, 50, of 2260 Bassett Drive, got upset with with the driver of a Domino's Pizza delivery vehicle early Tuesday afternoon on Delp Road.
Police said Duncan followed the delivery vehicle, driven by Harry Jackson, of Manheim, back to the Domino's store at 1611 Manheim Pike. Duncan confronted Jackson, became loud, and made threats against him.
Staff writer John M. Hoober III can be reached at jhoober@LNPnews.com or 481-6027.
