Man charged with Tacoma road rage shooting arrested in Seattle, state troopers say
A 47-year-old man charged with shooting a driver who stopped near an Interstate 5 on-ramp to give a man change in Tacoma last year was arrested Friday by a SWAT team with the Washington State Patrol.
Rodney Hebert was charged in Pierce County Superior Court on May 2 with first-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. The charges came nearly a year after he allegedly shot at a man five times after being stopped behind him at a traffic light.
One bullet struck the other driver in the thigh, and prosecutors said the victim was chased to SeaTac before he was able to get away from his assailant.
An alert for Hebert’s arrest was sent to Washington state law enforcement May 5, according to a news release from WSP. The next day, detectives with the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force located him and followed the man to where he worked in downtown Seattle.
State troopers said a SWAT team took Hebert into custody without incident. He was found with a gun, which troopers said was not brandished during the arrest.
Hebert was arraigned in Superior Court on Monday, and Judge James Orlando set bail at $100,000. According to court filings, 16 of the defendant’s relatives and friends wrote letters to the court in support of him for consideration at his bail hearing. Hebert was released Tuesday after posting a bail bond.
According to court records, the defendant has two previous convictions for first-degree assault and one for a drive-by shooting.
State troopers described the May 28 incident began at the traffic light on the Interstate 5 on-ramp from East 28th Street. According to the release, a driver who himself has experienced intermittent homelessness stopped to give money to a homeless person he saw asking for change at the intersection.
When the traffic light turned green, the motorist did not immediately drive forward. Troopers said this caused the driver of a Kia behind him to honk their horn, then pull up beside the victim. The driver of the Kia yelled and made gestures at the victim, who yelled back.
The situation escalated, and troopers said the driver of the Kia fired a gun at the victim, striking him in the leg. Another bullet hit his vehicle and went just above the victim’s head.
Troopers said detectives with WSP worked the case for almost a year. Surveillance video and photos were broadcast to the public through Washington’s Most Wanted, and multiple tipsters identified Hebert as the suspect. Detectives discovered that a blue Kia Optima was registered to him, but they weren’t able to locate him at any of his listed addresses.
Unable to locate the suspect, charges were referred to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and an arrest warrant was issued.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 11:30 AM.
