Minersville man fires gel ball gun at motorists in fit of road rage, police allege
PORT CARBON – A Minersville man was released on bail Tuesday, originally jailed on charges for a road rage incident here earlier this month.
Evian Holliday, 23, of 431 Pleasant Street, is facing two counts each of felony attempted aggravated assault, simple assault, disorderly conduct, and harassment.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Port Carbon Patrolman Nicholas Morgan, police received a walk-in complaint at the police station around 4:30pm on June 3.
A couple reported that they had been driving along Market Street in Port Carbon when traffic came to a standstill because of someone cutting grass on the roadside at Fourth and Market.
Trying not to block the intersection, they told police they pulled closer to a Dodge Avenger ahead of them.
The driver of that sedan then yelled out the window and began staring at the couple through his side mirror.
Traffic continued and both vehicles left Port Carbon towards Saint Clair, turning at Mill Creek Avenue.
The Avenger continued on Mill Creek Avenue as the couple turned onto Industrial Park Road. At that point, the Avenger made a sudden u-turn and began following the couple.
That continued through Saint Clair to the Port Carbon police station, where the driver of the Avenger, later identified as Holliday, rolled his window down and began clapping and yelling at the couple.
The couple drove up to First and Market and parked, and Holliday, police said, approached again, this time firing a fully automatic gel ball gun at the couple, striking them multiple times in the face.
At first, the couple feared for their lives, worrying the gun was a real firearm.
They reported the incident at the police station and provided a photo of the Avenger and its license plate.
Morgan wrote that he spotted the car in Port Carbon around 6:30pm that day and it left town towards Blythe Township, where it was stopped by Blythe Township Police Patrolman Walsh in New Philadelphia, which Blythe serves.
Multiple gel ball guns were seen within reach of the driver, Morgan wrote, and Holliday matched the description provided by the couple.
Three gel ball guns and a bottle of gel balls were confiscated and, when asked why he had so many, Holliday said they were for his protection.
Morgan wrote that Holliday and his passenger, his girlfriend, were “extremely uncooperative” when asked where they were coming from, where they were going, and what they did that day.
When told he would be charged, Holliday told police “that’s fine, I have money. I’ll just pay the citations.”
He was arraigned Thursday and committed to Schuylkill County Prison on $25,000 bail. He posted bail Tuesday through a bondsman from Reading.
A preliminary hearing is set for July 9 in Port Carbon.
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