An Ohio man has been arraigned on several charges in connection to a road rage shooting along I-275 earlier this week.
Alec Thieman, 28, from Delta, Ohio, was charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, assault with a dangerous weapon, felony firearm and three counts of reckless driving. He was given a $250,000 cash bond with no 10%.
The shooting happened around 7:30 a.m. on northbound I-275 in Huron Township on Wednesday.
Doug Dowell, the driver whose vehicle was hit by multiple bullets, says he's just happy to have made it back home in one piece.
VIDEO: Hear more from Doug Dowell on the road rage shooting on I-275
"Now that I sit back and think about it and look at the picture, there's no way I should've been here. I should be at the hospital right now, if not dead," said Dowell as he recounted the incident. "I'd just got on 275 from Sibley and I got over to the fast lane, doing 75/70 and the guy in front of me started breaking checking me."
Dowell says after he threw his hands up in frustration and tried to pass the driver on the right, the driver then began swerving into him. Dowell says the driver sideswiped his car before firing several shots. One of the bullets hit the driver side window and the other hit the driver side door.
Miraculously, Dowell was unharmed.
"If it wasn’t for the window tint on my car I’d have probably been shot," said Dowell. "I don’t understand why me going around him was such a big deal that he had to try to shoot me? That’s the thing I don’t understand."
After both men called 911, they showed up to the Romulus Police Department where the alleged shooter was taken into custody and is now facing a felony charge according to police.
VIDEO: Watch chopper video from outside the Romulus Police Department:
The shooting now marks the third freeway shooting in Metro Detroit in a week. On Saturday, one person was shot and killed on M-39 in Detroit. Then on Sunday, two people were shot and injured on the Lodge.
"The shooting part is concerning naturally but it's the underlying factors. How do we prevent this," said Lt. Mike Shaw with Michigan State Police.
Lt. Shaw says in the last few years, police have made a concerted effort to prevent freeway violence by installing more cameras and license plate reader technology. While it has helped to solve the crimes quickly after they happen, Shaw says it hasn't stopped them from happening.
" I don't understand why people would be so upset about just driving and if that is something that upsets you, maybe you need to think about a rideshare or a bus or something like that because there's no excuse," said Shaw.
Police predict the alleged shooter will be back in court sometime this week to face a judge for an arraignment. The exact charges the suspect will face are still pending as investigators sort out evidence.
