A Schuylkill County man is facing several assault charges after police say he shot two people in a vehicle with a gel ball gun earlier this month.
According to court papers, Evian Holliday, 23 of Minersville, is looking at a pair of first-degree felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor assault charges related to an incident in Port Carbon on June 3.
Port Carbon police say they were approached at their station by a driver and his passenger at about 4:30 p.m. that day. They said they were victims of a road rage incident.
The driver of that vehicle says they were headed west on Market St. As they approached the intersection of Market and Fourth streets, traffic came to a stop because someone was mowing grass near the side of the road.
Trying not to block the intersection, the driver says he pulled closer to the vehicle in front of him, which Holliday was driving.
As he did that, he could hear Holliday yelling something but didn’t understand what was being said. He says he then saw Holliday staring at him through his driver’s side mirror.
Holliday then opened the door to his vehicle but closed it quickly as traffic started moving. Even as traffic kept moving, Holliday was seen staring at the purported victim of this incident through the mirror.
Both vehicles then turned left onto Mill Creek Ave. but the alleged victim in this incident quickly made a turn onto Industrial Park Rd.
As he did this, Holliday allegedly also made a U-turn and began to follow the other driver into St. Clair and then back to Port Carbon.
Eventually, the victim and his girlfriend ended up at the Port Carbon police station. As they got to that point, Holliday allegedly rolled down the window of his vehicle and began yelling and clapping.
The victim and his girlfriend then went the intersection of First and Market streets and parked in an attempt to collect themselves.
That’s when Holliday allegedly drove up beside them and brandished a fully automatic gel ball gun, shooting the man and woman in the face multiple times.
The victim driver and passenger tell police that the way Holliday presented the gel ball gun so quickly, they thought it was a real gun at the time.
Police say the gel ball gun used in the incident could have caused serious injuries if the projectiles had hit either of them in the eyes.
As Holliday drove away after allegedly shooting the driver and passenger of the other vehicle in the face, he allegedly stuck a gray baseball bat out of the driver’s side window and began waving at the other driver, egging him on to follow him.
The victim and his girlfriend then went back to the Port Carbon police station to report what had happened. The girlfriend was able to provide police with a photo of Holliday’s vehicle.
A couple hours later, Port Carbon police spotted Holliday’s vehicle headed toward Blythe Township. That township’s police were notified and a traffic stop was initiated.
Police say they found multiple gel ball guns inside Holliday’s vehicle at that time, along with a gray baseball bat and a bottle of gel balls.
Holliday told police that he carries the gel ball guns for his protection. Police say Holliday and his girlfriend, who was with him at the time, were uncooperative as they were questioned about the incident a few hours prior.
When police notified him of the charges he’d be facing, he allegedly told them, “That’s fine. I have money. I’ll just pay the citations.”
Holliday was arraigned before District Magistrate Jimmy Reiley on June 13, who remanded him to Schuylkill County Prison on $25,000 cash bail. That bail was posted on June 18.
He’s due back in court for a Preliminary Hearing on July 9 before District Magistrate David Plachko.