A woman who apparently took the idea of riding “shotgun” a little too literally has been charged with a felony for some gun slinging antics that allegedly occurred during a “road rage” episode in western Orange County.
According to the office of Orange County’s sheriff, Samantha Lynn Russo had been traveling with Nicholas Logan Howle on the evening of October 5 when the pair got into a contretemps with another driver along Lebanon Road.
After zipping ahead of the other vehicle in a no-passing zone, Howle reportedly brought his Honda Civic to a halt. Russo, meanwhile, climbed out of the Civic with a firearm that she allegedly pointed at the passenger side of the second vehicle. Russo then reentered the Civic and, as if to punctuate her none-too-subtle point, allegedly fired twice into the air as she and Howle roared off into the distance.
According to the office of Orange County’s sheriff, the alleged victims of this encounter placed a 9-1-1 call that prompted a deputy to pull the Civic over along Lebanon Road – not far from the pair’s home at 2929 Maple Avenue in Efland.
The deputy went on to cite the 37-year-old white male motorist for aggressive driving and an expired registration. In the meantime, the 36-year-old white female passenger was charged with the misdemeanor-level offense of “assault by pointing a gun.”
Four days, later the office of Orange County’s sheriff decided to tack on an additional, felony-level charge against Russo over the two parting shots that she had allegedly fired into the air. According to the sheriff’s office, the arresting officer had initially ruled out a criminal charge for this gesture since the shots hadn’t apparently been aimed at the victims.
“As is standard practice in complicated cases,” the agency added in a subsequent news release, “investigators and administrators…continued to review the facts and circumstances of the traffic stop” and “found a recent North Carolina Court of Appeals ruling…dedicated…to determining the meaning of the singular word ‘within,’”
Armed with this appeals court decision, the sheriff’s office resolved that Russo had violated state law by discharging a firearm “within an enclosure” in order to incite fear. The result was a supplementary arrest warrant, that the agency served Friday. Russo has since been placed under a $10,000 bond.
