Brian Lovell, a judge in Garfield County, Oklahoma, went full rootin'-tootin' last week, opening fire on parked cars while driving his own and crashing it "intentionally" thereafter. He told officers someone had cut him off; he was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving, the least conceivable thing someone might be charged with after turning Austin into a scene from Mad Max. "A felony count of engaging in deadly conduct with a firearm was forwarded to a grand jury for consideration."
According to an Austin police affidavit, officers were called just after 4 p.m. on Sept. 11 by a witness who reported a man firing "approximately five times while driving down the street," striking at least one of the parked vehicles. About 90 minutes later, police responded to a call about a crash less than 2 miles from the shooting scene, where a woman said a man had deliberately collided into the rear of her vehicle twice.
The law: "misdemeanor reckless driving." The reality: a sweating stick of human dynamite eager to kill whoever picks it up next.
