AUBURN — A Lewiston man who told police he shot at a motorist from a rival gang who “disrespected” him was charged Tuesday with attempted murder.
Jauston Sanders, 24, of 195 Lincoln St. had told police that he believed he would be shot at, so he pulled a pistol and fired shots at the driver of a black Chevrolet Impala on Sabattus Street on the morning of Nov. 4, according to a police affidavit.
Sanders is being held at Androscoggin County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail.
An Androscoggin County grand jury indicted Sanders on charges of attempted murder, a Class A crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison. He also was charged with attempted elevated aggravated assault, a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A third charge, reckless conduct with a firearm, is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison.
The grand jury also indicted Sanders on drug charges related to an incident three days after the alleged shooting, including unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs and unlawful possession of scheduled drugs.
Sanders is expected to appear in Androscoggin County Superior Court on Wednesday to answer the charges and to address his bail.
Witnesses told police that the Impala sped off as the shots were fired. The shooter continued to walk up to the corner of Sabattus and Howe streets, paused, then continued up Howe Street, police said.
The driver of the car, Devine Nazaire, 29, said he had stopped for the traffic light at Sabattus and College streets. He looked up and saw somebody that he knew from “the streets” approaching his car and yelling something as he pulled out a black semi-automatic pistol, police said. The man on foot fired shots through the windshield of the car driven by Nazaire, who turned into the oncoming lane of traffic and sped off as the shots continued.
Nazaire told police he had gotten into an altercation earlier with a man who had “boys,” including Sanders, whose street name was JDogg.
The Impala had four bullet holes on the passenger side and one through the windshield, police said. The bullet through the windshield lodged near the headrest and would have just missed Nazaire’s head. Police recovered six shell casings from a .40-caliber gun where the shooting was reported, according to the affidavit.
Police said the two men were connected to rival groups, one from New York, the other from Massachusetts.
According to the affidavit, Sanders told police he is a “gang banger” and a member of the “Bloods.” He said he believed Nazaire had “disrespected him” and had followed him around.
He admitted that he fired at Nazaire because he thought Nazaire was going to pull a gun on him.