A 40-year-old driver, Charles Bass, was arrested by Surprise police due to a road rage incident which was
Charles Bass (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)
captured on video. He was accused of pointing a gun at a young motorist twice during the episode.
The victim, Shi ‘Anna Bamba, 19, relayed that in the heat of the moment, she initially didn’t understand the gravity of the situation.
On December 5, Bamba was driving in the vicinity of Litchfield and Cactus roads in Surprise. Having dropped her siblings off at school, according to her, she attempted to switch lanes. Court papers declared Bamba had cut off a truck, but she refuted this stating that was not the case. Her accounts of incident was she had not even made the move into another lane.
Bamba recalled that the other motorist had accelerated and made a gesture to her, before the situation got worse. When the vehicles reached the stop light, Bamba began filming.
In the video, a conversation between the two drivers occurs. A short time after their initial interaction, Bass brandishes a firearm at Bamba not once, but twice.
Bamba reported to authorities, “He asked me, ‘Do you wish to die?'”
Bamba backed away in a wave of fear and called her mother. It was only after that she completely comprehended the event. Bamba has struggled to move on since the episode.
On December 15, US Marshals, the Air Force, and the Surprise Police Department apprehended Bass. According to court papers, Bass is a First Sergeant in the Air Force.
According to court records, Bass acknowledged his involvement to officers; however, he stated that the young person behind the wheel had been driving recklessly.
When asked why he had aimed the gun at Bamba two times, even after recognizing it was a young woman, the man replied that he had no explanation.
Bass faces charges of aggravated assault using a deadly weapon.
