A Florida truck driver has been ordered detained in Lake County Jail while awaiting trial after firing a gun at another vehicle that was driving too slow during a road-rage incident in Gurnee, authorities said.
Robertas Nenadovic-Jasinskas, 34, of Clearwater, Florida, was arrested by police in Burlington, Wisconsin, following the May 16 shooting incident, Illinois State Police Public Information Officer Shafer McKune said in a news release Sunday.
Illinois State Police responded to the report of an expressway shooting on Interstate 94 northbound near Grand Avenue in Gurnee at about 11:05 p.m., McKune said.
Nenadovic-Jasinskas was driving a tractor-trailer and reportedly fired a weapon at the victim’s vehicle, McKune said.
The vehicle the victim was driving was not struck, McKune said, and the victims were not injured.
Illinois State Police special agents quickly identified Nenadovic-Jasinskas as the suspect, and he was arrested by the Burlington Police Department on May 17, McKune said.
Illinois State Police special agents presented the case to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, which approved the Class 4 felony charge of Reckless Discharge of a Firearm.
Nenadovic-Jasinskas was held in Racine County Jail until he was extradited to Lake County and made an initial First Appearance court hearing on June 3.
During that hearing, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a motion to detain Nenadovic-Jasinskas until trial.
At the Detention hearing on Thursday, Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Dino Katris said Nenadovic-Jasinskas was a cross-country trucker hauling a vehicle to Burlington, Wisc., when he became upset that a car in front of him was traveling at only 50 mph.
He said Nenadovic-Jasinskas shot twice at the car.
In addition, Katris argued Nenadovic-Jasinskas should be detained in Lake County Jail because he was previously charged with escape in Detroit and does not have a permanent residence in Illinois.
“Shooting at another vehicle on the interstate with so much traffic over something so ridiculous shows the character and the judgment calls of this defendant,” Katris said
He added that police recovered the gun used in the shooting in a lock box in the semi.
Defense attorneys argued that the escape charge Nenadovic-Jasinskas was charged with was 10 years old. He added that the Florida truck driver routinely passes through Lake County and would attend all court hearings despite having a residence in Clearwater, Florida.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim agreed to detain Nenadovic-Jasinskas because of a lack of ties to Lake County, his history of arrests, and the fact that there are safety concerns because he fired twice at another car for simply driving too slow.
“A real and present danger does exist based on the fact that he decided to fire two shots at another car for driving too slow,” Nerheim said.
Nenadovic-Jasinskas is due back in court on June 25.