Shooter sentenced to prison following I-25 road rage collision

A Westminster man was sentenced to 14 years in state prison Thursday for shooting a woman during a road rage encounter on Interstate 25 almost two years ago.

Chase Scheunert was initially charged with attempted murder after the March 2021 incident in which he fired several rounds from his rental car, a white 2021 BMW 330i, into the woman's Toyota 4Runner. The woman was shot in the shoulder, according to the arrest affidavit in the case.

RELATED  Chase Scheunert Charged With Attempted Murder In I-25 Road Rage Shooting (2021)

The Brighton woman was following her two daughters home at the time; they were driving in a separate vehicle which, according to the woman's description, was encroached upon by Scheunert's BMW and another red car that appeared to be egging one another on for a race. The woman flashed her headlights and began tailing the BMW at about 88th Avenue as they drove northbound. As they approached 104th Avenue, the BMW braked and the woman's SUV collided with its rear corner. The collision was caught on her dash camera. 

As she pulled toward the highway's shoulder, the BMW slowed along her 4Runner's drivers side. Investigators believe Scheunert was behind the wheel and fired shots at the 4Runner as his unidentified passenger ducked. He then sped off. 

Investigators found three bullet holes in the 4Runner. 

The next morning, police found the BMW abandoned on a neighborhood street. Scheunert had reported the vehicle stolen minutes earlier. However, Northglenn Police Department investigators found a neighbor's surveillance video which showed a person of Scheunert's description leaving the car in the cul-de-sac.  

Scheunert was arrested nine days later. He was 21 years old at the time of the incident. 

Prosecutors agreed to drop the attempted murder charge along with felony weapons violations (which referred to his previous convictions as a juvenile) in exchange for Scheunert's guilty plea to 1st Degree Att'd Assault w/ Deadly Weapon, a Class 4 felony. 

According to a search of online court records, Scheunert still faces charges in Clear Creek County and Denver. He was arrested in Clear Creek in September 2021 - six months after the Northglenn road rage - for reckless driving and street racing. He faces three drug possession felonies in Denver from late 2022, roughly the same time he entered his guilty plea in the road rage case. 

A civil case pursued by the woman in the road rage shooting was dismissed in September of 2022.