Three people were ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing after police say they shot out another driver's car windows with a pellet gun Wednesday during a road rage incident that originally started in nearby Worcester, Massachusetts.
The incident started just after 9 a.m. on Route 122 in Worcester.
A 911 caller told police their car had been shot at during a road rage incident and they were continuing to drive into nearby Paxton.
The caller pulled into the Paxton Public Safety Complex. The other car followed them into the parking lot before trying to turn around.
According to Paxton Police, officers stopped the suspects at the entrance and detained three people.
Police determined that the caller's car had been shot with a pellet gun. No one was hurt, but several windows were shattered.
Carla Lopez-Reyes, 44, Raquel Lozada-Vega, 46, and Roberto Carlos Crespo, 40, were all arrested. Each was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and maliciously vandalizing or defacing property. Lozada-Vega is also facing an additional charge of drug possession.
All three appeared in court on Thursday, with not guilty pleas entered on their behalf. The judge ruled in favor of the prosecution's request that the three suspects be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on Nov. 18.
"There's no concern for the general public. This was an isolated incident," said Sgt. Elise Miranda from the Worcester Police Department. "I think there were a lot of different mixed messages coming over that were pretty scary at first. It started out really big and frightening, and dialed down pretty quick."
Lozada-Vega's attorney said she denies the allegations and claims she was "a mere passenger in the vehicle."
Video showed a car stopped in the area of the Paxton Public Safety Complex with its rear windshield shattered.
Paxton police said that initially it was believed to have been a gun that caused the damage, but no casings were located and it was later determined to be a pellet gun.
Forrest Smith said he witnessed the scene following the incident.
"We saw several cruisers drive by. Probably 15 minutes after that we had state police cruisers, we had local police cruisers, we had Worcester police cruisers on the street. We had several officers with a police dog searching up and down the street," Smith said.
Paxton directly borders Worcester in central Massachusetts. The Paxton Public Safety Complex is just over two miles away from Pleasant Street in Worcester where the road rage incident began.
