Fayette man charged with attempted homicide in road rage incident
Hibbs man charged with attempted homicide
A Fayette County man is charged with attempted homicide after being accused of shooting several times at a man in a road rage incident in Luzerne Township Sunday night.
Richard Vernon Jr., 39, of Hibbs, fired several shots at Kenneth Adams Jr. outside Adams’ mother’s house on Main Street shortly before 8 p.m., the complaint said.
Multiple witnesses who saw the incident from a porch across the street told police that Vernon shot first before Adams fired back, according to court paperwork.
Because Adams acted in self-defense, he will not be charged, Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele said in a post Monday morning.
Nobody was injured in the shooting, the complaint said. One bullet passed through the home at 505 Main St. and struck the wall of a shower where Adams’ mother was showering, the complaint said.
The shooting followed an incident shortly before on Main Street in Isabella where one car ran another off the road, the complaint said. Adams said Vernon had been the aggressor; Vernon and his girlfriend, Holly Dunn, a passenger in the truck, said Adams had forced them to swerve off the road.
At that point, Adams and Vernon each exited their vehicles and began arguing, the complaint said.
Adams told police he waited until Vernon left, then drove to his mother’s house nearby, only for Vernon to drive up to the house behind him.
Questioned by police early the next morning, Vernon said he had only pulled up so he could apologize to the entire neighborhood for speeding, according to his affidavit of probable cause.
Vernon denied shooting or pointing a gun at Adams, saying Dunn had fired at Adams after Adams pointed a gun at them, charging documents stated.
Dunn initially agreed with Vernon, but once pressed for details told troopers Vernon had fired the gun, the complaint said.
She could not remember who was first to pull the trigger, but told police “she would not be surprised if Vernon had shot his gun first,” court documents state.
A neighbor of Vernon’s told troopers that Vernon had come over that night and asked him to hold onto a gun for him, saying he’d been involved in a road rage incident. The neighbor provided the gun to police, the complaint said.
Vernon is not allowed to own a firearm because of a prior charge, according to the complaint.
He is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, prohibited possession of a firearm and tampering with physical evidence.
Judge Ronald Haggerty denied bond to Vernon because of the attempted homicide charge. He was lodged in the Fayette County Jail.
Vernon’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 15.