Truck Driver Charged In Road Rage Shooting

A Georgia man was charged after he allegedly shot a fellow truck driver Oct. 31 on Interstate 44 in Sullivan.

Vernon Crutcher of Winder, Ga., faces one count of first-degree assault and one count of armed criminal action.

Crutcher shot the victim in the lower abdomen. 

The probable cause statement said the two drivers were parked on the shoulder of eastbound I-44 near Bomgaars.

Two witnesses observed Crutcher walk up to the passenger side of the victim’s truck, pull out a gun and fire.

The victim, who was transported to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, told the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Crutcher brandished a handgun.

Crutcher raised the gun, pointed it at the victim and fired around 6 feet away.

After being shot, the victim watched Crutcher go back to his truck. The victim tried to take pictures of Crutcher, but the shooter got out of his truck and threatened him with the gun.

The victim told deputies Crutcher had been driving aggressively, which prompted him to pull over.

Crutcher claimed that they had no contact over CB radio prior to pulling over. He said he approached the victim’s truck and there was a verbal altercation. Crutcher said the victim “bowed up” and swung a knife at him, so he fired in self-defense.

Crutcher showed two “superficial cuts” on his hand that he claimed were from the knife. When Crutcher was confronted with evidence and witness accounts contradicting his account, he became upset and requested a lawyer.

Crutcher is being held at the Franklin County Jail.