Man arrested in connection with drive-by shootings on I-84

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

A California man remains in custody in connection with a series of drive-by shootings that included one in Elmore County on Oct. 30.

Lajai J. Pridgette, 28, remains in custody at the Gooding County Jail after he reportedly fired a weapon at two vehicles on the interstate.

According to a report from the Idaho State Police, the first incident was reported around 6 p.m. by a motorist traveling eastbound on the interstate at milepost 57 near the Boise Factory Outlets. The motorist reported he was traveling with three passengers in a gray Chevrolet Malibu when a black male traveling in the right lane in a Ford Mustang tried to make eye contact with the passengers.

The driver of the Malibu and his passengers avoided eye contact. The suspect then slowed down, changed lanes and began traveling behind the other car.

As the driver of the Malibu changed to the right lane, the driver of the Mustang again pulled alongside from the left lane. This was when the driver and passengers of the Malibu heard what they believed to be a gunshot.

Both of the side rear windows of the Malibu shattered, although no one in the car was injured. The Idaho State Police issued a description of the Mustang and driver to other law enforcement agencies in an attempt to locate the suspect.

Around 7:10 p.m., the South Idaho Regional Communications Center received a report of a gunshot fired into a 1995 Toyota Pickup traveling eastbound on the interstate at milepost 112, approximately 16 miles east of Mountain Home. The bullet passed through the door of the pickup and was lodged in items inside the cab. The driver of the pickup was not injured.

The description of the suspect in the second incident matched the suspect's description in the first case, the state police reported.

At 7:25 p.m., a state trooper spotted a Mustang matching the description of the suspect's vehicle parked at a convenience store at Exit 157 in Wendell. The vehicle was reportedly stolen from a rental car company in Anaheim, Calif., earlier that month.

Troopers took Pridgette into custody without incident as he walked out of the store. He was booked into the Gooding County Jail with his bond set at $250,000.

Inside the car, troopers found a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, a credit card skimmer, equipment used to make fraudulent credit cards and a stolen laptop computer. Pridgette has an extensive criminal history in California, including convictions on several drug charges, assault with a deadly weapon and promotion of prostitution, the state police reported.

Elmore County sheriff's deputies collected the evidence at the scene, including the bullet to help piece together evidence, according to Sheriff Rick Layher.

Multiple charges are pending in Ada, Elmore and Gooding counties. They include four felony counts of aggravated assault, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, unlawful possession of a firearm and grand theft by possession.

The case remains under investigation by the Idaho State Police.