Pocatello man who allegedly fired gun in road rage incident charged with multiple felonies

POCATELLO — A man who allegedly fired multiple shots at an SUV on Interstate 15 has been charged.

Kayin Patrick Garretson, 25, faces felony charges for discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, court records show. He has also been charged with a misdemeanor for malicious injury to property.

Idaho State Police received a call around 3 p.m. Saturday reporting a road rage incident in which a gun was discharged, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Troopers were informed that the driver of a 2004 Honda Accord fired multiple gunshots at a 2017 Ford Explorer.

Troopers found the Explorer on I-15. The driver said he pulled over due to a flat tire caused by the gunshots.

A detective with the Chubbuck Police Department informed troopers that the Accord had been stopped near the Northgate Parkway offramp.

Troopers spoke with the driver of the Explorer, noting that there were three children seated in the back of the SUV. The children, police reports show, were still crying when troopers arrived.

The driver said he was traveling southbound on I-15 alongside the Accord, which was behind a semi when the Accord cut him off. He said that the Accord left only inches between the vehicles.

Once the two cars passed the semi, the Accord moved back into the right lane. The driver of the Explorer said that he pulled alongside the Accord, honked his horn then flipped the driver of the Accord off.

That was when the driver of the Accord, later identified as Garretson, pulled a handgun and pointed it at the driver and front seat passenger of the Explorer, according to police reports. The driver of the Explorer said he did not think the gun was real and shrugged his shoulders at Garretson.

Garretson then fired multiple shots at the Explorer, striking the tire at least once, according to the affidavit.

While speaking with the Chubbuck detective, Garretson said that he fired three rounds at the Explorer after it attempted to run his Accord off the road.

“Um, honestly, I feel like I overreacted,” Garretson told police, according to the affidavit. “Um, I thought he was trying to run me off the road because I cut him off when I was trying to pass the semi.”

Officers noted in police reports that Garretson was traveling with two passengers at the time of the incident — including a three-month-old child.

Garretson said that after he passed the semi and moved over, the Explorer pulled alongside him and began overtaking his lane. He said that his passenger-side tires were on the outside line of the freeway and that the Explorer was still only four or five feet from him.

He told the detective that he pulled his gun, hoping that the Explorer would back off, and when it did not, he fired three rounds. He said he aimed low and believed he may have hit the tire but was unsure because of how low he was aiming.

“I thought, if I were to try to correct from him trying to hit me, I would have lost control,” Garretson told officers, adding that the semi was behind him, so stopping was not an option.

Once the Explorer backed off, he exited the freeway and called 911 to report the incident.

Garretson was taken to Bannock County Jail and booked, where he is being held on a $10,000 bond.

Though Garretson has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

If he is found guilty, Garretson could face up to 26 years in prison.

He is scheduled to appear in court before Magistrate Judge Carol Tippi Jarman for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 12.