Judge weighs bond for Brandon road rage shooting suspect
Road rage suspect’s bond hearing
After hearing from accused road rage shooter Aiden Richards’ attorney and state prosecutors a judge said he would decide within 24 hours whether or not to grant Richards bond. FOX 13's Kylie Jones reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - The woman accused of firing shots at another driver in a road rage incident in Brandon will soon find out whether she'll be allowed out of jail before she stands trial.
Aiden Richards, 21, appeared in a Tampa courtroom Tuesday for a bond hearing in a wheelchair.
Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
The backstory:
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to reports of a shooting between two vehicles last Thursday afternoon at the intersection of South Hilltop Rd. and West Brandon Blvd.
Video released by the sheriff's office shows liquid being poured on a blue Hyundai, followed by a popping sound. Seconds later, as the light turned green, shots were fired.
Road rage shooting in Brandon
A road rage shooting in Brandon was caught on camera and landed one woman in jail.
Deputies said Richards opened fire and the other driver shot back, hitting Richards.
Richards went to the hospital for treatment of lower body injuries, then was booked into jail and made her first court appearance last Friday.
"She said that she was driving down West Brandon Blvd. and then at some point, a black vehicle pulled out in front of her," HCSO Det. John Fulton said.
On Tuesday, the detective said that a car pulled up near Richards' car on the road, which is when things started to escalate.
"Female passenger said that it was seen that Ms. Richards stuck her hand out the window like, 'Bring it on', or something to that effect. It was like an egging on situation," Fulton said.
Dash camera footage from a car nearby captured part of the incident.
"You see a female passenger hanging halfway out of the vehicle," Fulton said. "You see her throwing water on Ms. Aiden Richards' vehicle."
In the dash camera video, you can't see shots being fired, but you can hear multiple shots on the audio.
"You can hear one shot, another shot," Fulton said. "And then shortly after that, you hear multiple shots."
Detectives say the driver of the other car grabbed a gun and fired back at Richards' car.
"He stated that he thought that she was trying to kill his girlfriend," Fulton said.
Richards' attorney argued that the passenger of the other car was being aggressive.
"If Ms. Richards' true intent was to kill her, she had ample opportunity to do so," Richards' attorney, Alan Sandler said. "She could've shot her in the head. She could've shot her in the face. She didn't do that."
Her attorney also said the dash-camera video didn't capture the entire incident, including what led up to the shooting.
He says Richards doesn't have a prior criminal record.
However, the state prosecutor said Richards escalated the situation.
"The provocation of throwing water on a vehicle does not justify Ms. Richards pulling out a firearm and shooting at the victim," the prosecutor said.
What's next:
During Tuesday's hearing, the judge said he'll take up to 24 hours to decide whether to grant bond for Richards.
Richards faces the following charges:
- Attempted second-degree murder (two counts)
- Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (two counts)
- Shooting at, within or into a vehicle (two counts)
The Source: This story was written with information from Hillsborough County court records and previous FOX 13 News reports.
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