Road rage keeps escalating on Phoenix freeways. This case shows how

Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers arrested two drivers early March 20 after a road rage confrontation on a Phoenix-area freeway in which one driver allegedly pointed a gun — part of a recent string of Valley incidents escalating into gunfire or other weapons. The incident occurred around 5 a.m. on Interstate 10 near its transition to Loop 202, according to DPS in a news release shared on social media. A 911 caller reported that another vehicle cut him off and nearly forced him off the roadway before pointing a firearm at him before speeding away, DPS said.

Dispatchers instructed the caller to stop following the vehicle and obey the speed limit, but the caller continued pursuing the other driver, according to DPS. Troopers found both vehicles traveling at what DPS described as criminal speeds and still engaged in a confrontation. Troops later stopped both vehicles and both drivers admitted involvement in the incident and driving at criminal speeds.

Arizona law defines excessive, or “criminal,” speed as driving more than 20 mph over the posted limit, according to state statute. The offense is a class 3 misdemeanor. Authorities arrested both drivers on suspicion of criminal speed and disorderly conduct, with one driver also facing a weapons-related charge, DPS said.

Severe road rage The March 20 confrontation is the latest in a series of recent Valley cases in which disputes between drivers escalated into gunfire or the use of other weapons.

In February and March 2026, Glendale police arrested a Sun City West couple accused of using a hatchet, knife, and pepper spray during multiple road rage confrontations in a Walmart parking lot. Prosecutors filed multiple felony aggravated assault charges in that case. On March 10, 2026, Buckeye police arrested a Goodyear man accused of pulling an AR-15-style rifle from his vehicle and pointing it at a woman after she honked at him in a parking lot.

He faces a felony charge of disorderly conduct with a weapon, according to court documents. Since summer 2025, at least four Phoenix-area road rage incidents have involved gunfire, three of them fatal, according to publicly reported cases.

In early July 2025, a confrontation between drivers in Tempe ended when Steven Bevan, 29, was shot near Warner Road and Priest Drive. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide. A grand jury later declined to pursue homicide or weapons charges in the case.

The next month, Yarely Ashley Hermosillo, 27, was fatally shot during a road rage dispute near 51st Avenue and Camelback Road in Glendale. Prosecutors charged Jesus Preciado Dousten, 33, with second-degree murder and other felonies.

In late October 2025, 23-year-old Daniel Valencia died after a shooting that Avondale police said stemmed from a road rage incident near Dysart and Thomas roads. On Nov. 22, 2025, an argument between drivers near 19th Avenue and Baseline Road in Phoenix escalated into gunfire that killed Quincy Jay Polk, 30, and his 8-year-old daughter, Envy Cardenas. A grand jury later indicted Tyrone Dee Chilly, 28, on charges including first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault.

Prosecutors said the shooting stemmed from a road rage incident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines road rage as “an intentional assault by a driver or passenger with a motor vehicle or a weapon that occurs on the roadway or is precipitated by an incident on the roadway,” according to a November 2024 analysis by the Pew Research Center. That Pew analysis reviewed data from the Gun Violence Archive and found road rage incidents involving firearms became more deadly after 2020.

In 2022, 148 people were killed and 421 injured nationwide in such incidents, the highest toll in recent years, according to Pew. Pew reported that between 2019 and 2022, Arizona recorded one of the largest increases in age-adjusted motor vehicle death rates in the nation, but that data does not only focus on road rage as a specific cause of death. A September 2025 study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 96% of drivers admitted to engaging in at least one aggressive driving behavior in the past year, and 11% acknowledged actions such as intentionally bumping another vehicle or confronting another driver.

DPS urges drivers not to engage with aggressive motorists. Troopers advise drivers to create distance, avoid gestures or confrontation and call 911 rather than pursue another vehicle. DPS did not provide comprehensive statewide data on how many road rage incidents in Arizona have involved firearms.

Rey Covarrubias Jr. covers business and breaking news for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Email him at: rcovarrubias@azcentral.com, and connect with him on Instagram, Threads, Bluesky and X (formerly Twitter) at @ReyCJrAZ.