Utah road rage leads to spitting, then to shooting

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — A confrontation between two drivers that started with one spitting on the other’s window ended with a shot fired, police say.

Karan Dylan Johnson, 40, of West Valley City, was charged Wednesday with discharge of a firearm, possession of a gun by a restricted person and witness tampering, third-degree felonies; and drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors.

On Dec. 30, a man went into a grocery store at 3555 W. 3500 South and noticed a car following him closely. When he came back out, the man “observed snot on his driver’s side window,” according to charging documents.

Assuming it was the driver who had been following him, the victim saw the man, later identified as Johnson, get into his car and followed him to a house near 3000 South and 3100 West. Johnson stopped at the house “and a woman came outside and handed Johnson a gun in a holster,” the charges state.

The other man said he became so scared that he “drove off, hitting two cars in the process. (He) said his car died and he jumped out and ran, literally running out of his shoes, while Johnson chased him. (The man) then heard a pop and a bullet whizzed by his head,” according to the charges.

When questioned by police, Johnson admitted to spitting on the other man’s window because he believed he was cut off by the other man in the grocery store parking lot, the charges state. He then claimed that the other man fired a shot at him first which is why he fired back, but claimed the shot was in the air.

Police, however, were able to find surveillance video from a nearby home that recorded the confrontation.

“The surveillance showed (the man) running away from Johnson, who yelled at (him), ‘I’m going to kill you!’ Johnson then pointed the gun toward (the man) and fired one shot,” the charges state.

Police say the person who provided the video told officers that Johnson also offered money to the witness to lie.

“I told them (the police) that he shot at me. Please tell them you can’t find the video. I will give you money,” Johnson told the witness, according to the charges.