- John Edward Orvis, 53, faces multiple felony charges for alleged road rage incidents.
- Orvis is accused of shooting at a vehicle and brandishing a gun in Draper.
- Police reported finding a handgun, drugs and ammunition in Orvis' truck upon arrest.
DRAPER — A West Jordan man was charged Wednesday with shooting at one vehicle and brandishing a gun at another during what police say were unprovoked road rage attacks in Draper.
John Edward Orvis, 53, is charged in 3rd District Court with illegal discharge of a firearm, a second-degree felony; and two counts of aggravated assault and threatening to use a weapon in a fight, third-degree felonies. All of those charges come with a road rage penalty enhancements.
About 11:40 p.m. Saturday, Orvis pulled up alongside another vehicle on I-15, according to investigators, and began staring at the occupants of the vehicle in a "weird" way. The victims "sped up to distance themselves from the truck, but the truck sped up and followed closely behind them, almost hitting their bumper," charging documents state.
The victims exited the freeway at 12300 South and stopped at a traffic light. Orvis, however, "maneuvered around other vehicles to pull up beside them. The driver was yelling at them, but the (victims) had their windows rolled up and could not hear what was being said. Both victims observed what appeared to be a firearm in the driver's hands," according to the charges.
Orvis pointed a gun at the victims, who then drove off and "reported hearing what sounded ... like a gunshot while they were traveling," the charges state.
A driver in a third vehicle who was cut off by Orvis and the victim vehicle near 12300 South and 300 East saw both vehicles "driving erratically through the area," a police booking affidavit states, and "believed they were involved in a road rage incident."
That woman then watched as Orvis got out of his truck and fired his gun, and she believed she had been shot, the charges say. Police observed "a large abrasion on her upper left thigh … and found a bullet entry hole on the outside of the driver's door, an exit hole on the inside of the driver's door, and an entry hole in the driver's seat with no exit hole in the driver's seat. The location of the entry hole in the driver's seat was right where (the woman's) upper left thigh would have been located when the shot was fired. The bullet was found inside the seat foam of the driver's seat."
Draper police located Orvis on Minuteman Drive and took him into custody. Inside his truck, officers located a handgun, different calibers of ammunition, meth, a spent shell casing and THC products, according to charging documents.
In addition to the four previously mentioned felonies, Orvis was also charged with being a restricted person in possession of a gun, a third-degree felony; drug possession, a class A misdemeanor; plus marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors.
