Arizona
Arizona man found guilty in 2021 road rage shooting incident
PHOENIX — A 72-year-old Arizona man faces up to 20 years behind bars after being found guilty last week in a road rage shooting case, authorities said Tuesday.
A jury on Friday found Erik Adrian Engdahl guilty of drive-by shooting, aggravated assault, criminal damage and evidence tampering, the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
The Springerville resident, who was 70 at the time of the March 19, 2021, shooting, will be sentenced on June 26. He faces between seven and 20 years in prison, according to the release.
Prosecutors said Engdahl chased down a driver who’d passed him on Walker Road and shot at the vehicle with a handgun. The incident occurred near an entrance to Lynx Lake in the Prescott National Forest.
The victim provided the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office with a description of Engdahl and his vehicle, and investigators were able to identify the suspect.
Engdahl changed his physical appearance by shaving his distinctive mustache after incident, according to prosecutors. He also removed the roof rack from his vehicle and drove it to Las Vegas, where he left it with a friend.
The friend initially told local law enforcement the vehicle had been with him for a month, but he changed his story after he was presented with conflicting evidence, prosecutors said.
After serving warrants in Prescott and Las Vegas and gathering evidence, YCSO arrested Engdahl on April 29, 2021.
“Road rage cases are sometimes difficult to prove, but detectives from YCSO did a great job in making this case,” County Attorney Dennis McGrane said in the release.