WYOMING, Minnesota — A Forest Lake man has been charged with shooting into another car while driving on Interstate 35 northbound on Friday.
According to the criminal complaint, Minnesota State Patrol troopers and Wyoming police officers responded to a report of a shooting on I-35 near Wyoming, Minnesota at about 1:40 p.m.
Dispatch said that a person in a dark colored BMW had fired a shot into another vehicle.
A trooper who was already pulled over on the interstate watched the suspect BMW go into the ditch on the snow and ice-covered road behind him. A white Ford truck then pulled over in front of him.
According to the complaint, the trooper and a police sergeant approached the BMW with guns drawn and asked the driver where the gun was. The complaint states that the driver, Trinidad Garcia, 26, said it was in his front pocket. The officers arrested him and found the gun in his pocket. There were four rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. Garcia told them he was headed for Canada, according to the complaint.
The truck that pulled over had a bullet hole in its passenger door. The driver told the officers that he had been moving at about 45 miles per hour due to the snow. He said when he drove by a blue vehicle, he heard a pop and something hit his door. He was "visibly upset" but did not require medical attention. He said he saw the blue vehicle pass him and go into the ditch.
Officers found $11,481 in a shoebox in the BMW, and Garcia's gun was reported stolen from Inver Grove Heights in November.
Garcia is not legally allowed to possess a gun, due to two previous assault convictions.
He's charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, shooting at a motor vehicle, and illegal possession of a firearm.
