A 19-year-old driver going 100 on I-69 Monday night, with an open bottle of whiskey in his minivan, is accused of shooting a Ruger AR-556 rifle out the window. He says he didn’t. A witness says otherwise. Evidence includes the rifle, 34 rounds in the magazine, 21 casings on the floorboard and the safety set to “Fire.”   

Caiden Tyler Rich, 19, Newburgh, Ind., was arrested by Deputy Jordan Allor of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department on Monday night, April 12.

Just before 7 p.m. Monday, a dispatcher at the Greene County Sheriff’s Department received a 911 call from a citizen who was traveling south on I-69 near the 104 mile marker. The caller said someone in a maroon minivan was all over the road and was shooting a firearm out the passenger side window. The caller said the firearm looked like a rifle.

Deputy Jordan Allor, the investigating officer in this case, was dispatched and Lt. Marvin Holt of the Bloomfield Police Department also responded as did Deputy Camron Frye.

On the way, Deputy Allor asked dispatch to make contact with the caller and get an update on the situation. The caller advised the driver of the minivan was a younger white man wearing sunglasses and the minivan was either a Kia or a Ford.

When Deputy Allor left US 231 for I-69 northbound, he saw BPD Lt. Holt southbound at the 87 mile marker. Lt. Holt said he was behind the suspect vehicle and it was going 100 mph in a 70 mph zone.

Once Deputy Allor caught up to Lt. Holt and the suspect vehicle, the suspect vehicle slowed down to around 60 mph and both Deputy Allor and Lt. Holt hit their emergency red and blue lights to make a stop.

In Deputy Allor’s narrative contained in a probable cause document, he said this was a high risk stop due to the nature of the call.

The suspect vehicle turned the right turn signal on and pulled onto the shoulder of I-69 at the 85.1 mile marker.

The driver, identified as Caiden Tyler Rich, 19, of Newburgh, was handcuffed by Deputy Frye while Deputy Allor and Lt. Holt approached the vehicle to clear it. There were no other passengers on board but Lt. Holt reported seeing a rifle shell casing on the driver’s side floorboard and an “AR” style rifle on the passenger side floorboard leaning against the passenger seat.

During an initial conversation with Rich on the scene, he allegedly told Deputy Allor that he was not shooting the gun outside the window but he had moved it over to the passenger seat. Deputy Allor asked where the gun was before it was moved and Rich said it was in the driver’s seat. Why would he have the gun in the driver’s seat? Rich allegedly said he honestly didn’t know.

Rich claimed he had been out shooting on a backroad earlier but maintained that he had not shot the gun out the window. He also said he was planning on going to a shooting range in Evansville later that night. When asked why he was going 100 mph, Rich allegedly said he guessed he wasn’t paying attention to his speed.

Rich told the deputy he bought the gun from Rural King in January, that it was registered to him and that he had the paperwork for it.

Rich allegedly admitted he has been arrested before as a juvenile but not on any gun charges because he would never be irresponsible with guns.

Rich was transported to the sheriff’s department for further questioning and Deputy Allor contacted the caller to ask more questions about what they had witnessed.

The caller said he was headed south on I-69 with the minivan in front of him and saw the minivan swerve in its lane. The caller then passed the minivan and when he looked in his rearview mirror, he saw the minivan travel into the left lane and then all over the road. He could see the driver messing with something and the longer he watched, it looked like a firearm. The caller said he then saw the driver shooting out of the passenger side window while the minivan was in the left lane. The caller said he could see a muzzle blast coming from the end of the barrel and that he saw the muzzle blast several times.

In a later interview at the sheriff’s department, Rich continued to maintain that he did not shoot the gun out the window.

A search warrant for the Kia minivan was approved and when executed, deputies located a Ruger AR-556 rifle with a 60-round magazine inserted into the magazine well, with 34 live rounds of .223 ammunition. The rifle safety was switched to the “Fire” position. Deputy Allor reported they also located 21 spent shell casings of .223 ammunition on the floorboard of the minivan. In a pocket on the back of the front passenger seat, they located an open 750 ml bottle of “Fireball” whisky.

Rich was booked into the Greene County Jail at 10:10 p.m. His bond was set at $5,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He has since posted $500 and been released from jail.

When Rich appears in Greene Superior Court for his initial hearing, he will be formally charged with:

• Criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, a Level 6 felony,

• Shooting from or across a public highway – knowingly or intentionally, a Class C misdemeanor,

• Reckless driving at unreasonable speed that endangers safety, a Class C misdemeanor, and

• Minor in possession of alcohol, a Class C misdemeanor.