WEST YELLOWSTONE — A Columbus truck driver is facing felony charges after allegedly firing a pistol at a vehicle he reportedly ran off Highway 191 on Friday morning.
Jeremiah Thompson, 48, faces criminal endangerment and assault with a weapon charges. He was scheduled to appear in Gallatin County Justice Court on Monday.
According to charging documents, on Mar. 6 at 8:49 a.m., a man reported to West Yellowstone dispatch that a semi-truck ran him off the road and the driver shot at him. The man was able to provide the truck plate number.
The man told a Gallatin County Sheriff's Office deputy that he was driving in his lane on MT-191 near the intersection of MT-287 as the semi-truck was making an illegal pass in a no-passing lane.
He told the deputy that he began to follow the truck and passed it while attempting to read the front license plate number.
The truck driver then allegedly stuck a handgun out of the driver's window and fired a single round while both vehicles were driving northbound on MT-191.
The deputy stopped the truck and trailer near the intersection of MT-191 and Windy Pass Trail. The driver reportedly admitted to making an illegal pass and causing another vehicle to leave the road to avoid a head-on collision.
The driver reported that the vehicle that went off the road began to follow him, passed him, and began slowing down and hitting his brakes.
Thompson reportedly told the deputy that he held a firearm out of the truck's driver-side window while the vehicle was in front of him and fired one round toward the vehicle with a 9mm handgun.
Deputies also determined that the incident was witnessed by another truck driver.
A spent shell casing was found from the roadway and another was recovered from inside the truck cab, near the driver's seat.
Thompson was being held at the Gallatin County Detention Center.
