Man charged following road rage incident
A Normalville man is facing multiple charges after police allege he held several people at gunpoint during a road rage incident in Saltlick Township on Tuesday afternoon.
State police Trooper Scott A. Krofcheck said Kenneth Wayne Simmons, 29, of 232 Clinton Road was charged before Magisterial District Judge Ronald J. Haggerty Jr. with illegal possession of a firearm, recklessly endangering another person and simple assault.
Krofcheck said he filed the charges against Simmons after an altercation with Tyler Dipaola of Melcroft.
Krofcheck said while Dipaola was traveling on Route 711 in a car driven by a man later identified as Simmons drove past Dipaola’s vehicle and then stopped in front of his car, making an obscene gesture toward Dipaola and a woman inside his vehicle.
Dipaola said he continued to drive from the scene but was later forced from the road by Simmons into a grassy area near a cemetery, Krofcheck said.
Dipaola said he stopped his car about 150 feet from Simmons’ vehicle, and that when he exited his car, he saw Simmons get out of his vehicle brandishing a rifle, Krofcheck said.
Krofcheck said Simmons fired a single round before Dipaola got back into his car and fled the scene.
Simmons told police that he fired a single shot into the ground and admitted to participating in the road rage incident.
Krofcheck noted that during the incident, Simmons was in custody of his two children, ages 2 and 4.
Simmons was placed in Fayette County Prison on $5,000 straight cash bond following his arraignment in the case.
A preliminary hearing will be held at a later date before Haggerty.