Before the court ruling, the shooter faced harsher charges despite what appeared to be self defense
On November 19th, two men in Indiana got into a road rage incident that escalated quickly. One punched a window, and the other responded with gunfire. Both ended up with criminal charges but the firearm wielder faced a charge of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. Now, a court has thrown that charge out sparking debate about the whole case.
The entire situation unfolded on camera as the two drivers, one in a Ford sedan and the other in a Nissan van, took turns cutting one another off. Then, as the two come to a stop light, the driver of the Ford, later identified as Alex Mozee, 19, hops out and walks up to the Nissan. He punches out the window at which point, Jason Henkle, 42, fires three shots from his gun.
Two hit Mozee and a third shattered the window of a vehicle not involved in the incident. Thankfully, nobody ended up with life-threatening injuries. Nevertheless, police charged Mozee with misdemeanor battery and Henkle with criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.
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Read: Road Rage Incident Escalates Into Gunfire, Leaving Two Injured In Indiana
Now, Allen Superior Court has dropped the charges against Henkle according to TDPel. As we said when we first reported on this story, Indiana does have a “stand-your-ground” law that might have been part of this decision.
It’s understandable that one would want to defend themselves from an attacker .However, the method of defense in this case deserves scrutiny, especially since bystanders and innocent motorists were not only present, but one of them was actually shot. The clear takeaway appears to be that road rage is just a terrible decision for everybody involved.
It certainly didn’t benefit either of the individuals involved and it could’ve led to serious injury of a completely innocent third party. Be safe out there, keep a cool head, and get to your destination without the hassle of criminal charges that could come with an altercation.
Image Credit: WTHR