Man arraigned in I-57 road rage shooting investigation

PESOTUM, Ill. (WAND) - A man has been arraigned in court on charges of attempted first degree murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm in connection with a road rage shooting on Interstate 57 near Pesotum Thursday.

LeJoshua Smith of East St. Louis, Illinois was driving with a female passenger and two children in the car when he passed a semi and slowed down, causing the semi to hit the rear bumper of his vehicle, Illinois Police said.

ISP said Smith told them following his arrest that he had gotten angry and used a gun to fire eight times at the semi and then took off.

The semi was hit on the driver's side of the cab near where the driver was seated.

Troopers found Smith's vehicle about 20 minutes after the shooting near milepost 249 and tried to stop it, but police said he took off, reaching speeds of up to 124 mph, weaving between vehicles and driving on the shoulder and through a construction zone.

Troopers had to use stop sticks to get the vehicle stopped in Iroquois County, where Smith was taken into custody.

Police said he admitted the female passenger was trying to get him to stop but, he continued driving.

Smith has a felony conviction for forgery from St. Louis County, Missouri, and has a pending intimidation using a deadly weapon case from Spencer County, Indiana.

The Champaign County State's Attorney's Office will be trying to have Smith detained in this case.

I-57 was closed during the investigation but has since reopened.