Suspect in custody, accused of shooting at driver on I-15
Jun 2, 2026, 12:22 PM
FILE: The Salt Lake County Jail in South Salt Lake is pictured. A suspect is in custody and accused of shooting at another driver on I-15 in a fit of road rage. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Police have arrested a man accused of shooting at another driver in a fit of road rage on Interstate 15 in Salt Lake County.
On May 22, the victim was driving his work vehicle when Pedro Encarnacion, 31, allegedly fired a shot from a handgun at the victim’s vehicle, according to arrest documents obtained by KSL.
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Police said the victim was not hit, but the bullet ended up in the passenger side glove compartment.
The arrest documents do not make clear what happened before the shot was fired or if there was any interaction between the victim and Encarnacion before he allegedly fired the gun.
Documents show investigators were able to get Encarncion’s license plate information from the victim’s dash camera, but he was not booked into the Salt Lake County Jail until Monday night — 10 days after the shooting.
Investigators said Encarnation traveled to Boston, Massachusetts two days after the shooting and that he stayed there for five days.
Encarnacion’s cell phone has a Boston area code and was in the area of the shooting at the time the victim said it happened.
A Utah 3rd District Court judge has already ordered Encarnacion to be held without bail.
As of Tuesday morning, prosecutors had not yet filed formal charges against Encarnacion.
He has been booked into jail on suspicion of felony discharge of a firearm, a third degree felony; aggravated assault, a third degree felony; and attempted murder, a first degree felony. All three counts have road rage enhancements.
