A Centertown man has been arrested for two counts of aggravated assault for reportedly chasing down and then opening fire on two people in a pickup.

Carl Lee Randolph, 51, was hit with the charges Monday after a search of his vehicle found an empty 380 automatic shell casing on the driver’s side floorboard.

The incident allegedly occurred Monday as victims Sain Smith and Carrol Graham were traveling the backroads in Centertown. Smith told law enforcement he was driving and turned from Unity Road onto Miller Road. As he made the turn in his red Chevy pickup, Smith said a man and woman began running toward his vehicle.

He said the male got into a black, primer-colored pickup and began to follow him. It was when he turned onto Robert Wilson Road that Smith said the primer-colored pickup passed him and slammed on its brakes, causing him to hit the truck.

“The male subject driving the black pickup started to get out of the truck in a very aggressive manner,” the Sheriff’s Department report says. “Sain then backed up the hill and the black pickup truck followed him onto Brown Prater Road and then onto Knight Road.”

At that point, Randolph reportedly stopped and fired four times at the Smith pickup, hitting it once.

Graham told a similar story from the passenger seat, saying she “got down and began to pray” when gunfire erupted.

When law enforcement was dispatched to the area, the primer-colored pickup was found parked at a home on Unity Road.

“Carl Lee Randolph stated that he knew why I was there and it had to do with a red Chevrolet truck,” said deputy Charles Steward in his report.

Randolph was then read his Miranda rights, but agreed to answer questions and said he does not own a firearm, nor did he have possession of one. He said the red pickup in question almost hit his girlfriend, Charlena Vaughn, as she was dragging limbs from the side of the road. Vaughn had a similar version of events.

Both Vaughn and Randolph said the primer-colored pickup had only left the property for Randolph to buy gasoline for his chainsaw. 

When deputy Steward was given permission to search the pickup and found the shell casing, he placed Randolph under arrest. Randolph is also charged with possession of a weapon by a felon.