A Tempe assistant football coach was terminated from his job after he was arrested in connection with a road rage incident.
Mesa police said Natrell Curtis admitted to firing his gun at a truck after getting into an altercation with another driver on Aug. 21. Curtis was a coach at Corona del Sol High School, which is part of Tempe Union High School District.
In a statement to families, Principal Nathan Kleve said the incident was unrelated to any school campus activities and that Curtis' employment was terminated.
Witnesses told Mesa police they heard between two and six gunshots fired at the scene just before 7 p.m. near Country Club Drive and Juanita Avenue, according to court documents.
Video footage of the incident showed a tan Chevrolet Silverado
truck facing north on Country Club Drive, waiting to turn west onto Juanita Avenue, court documents stated. A gray Honda Civic driving north stopped next to the truck and the driver of the Honda threw a black object at the truck, after which the Honda made a U-turn to stop on the side of Country Club Drive. The driver of the Honda then got out of the car and threw another object at the truck before driving into a parking lot and out onto Juanita Avenue, according to the documents.
When the truck turned left onto Juanita Avenue, it approached the Honda, and the driver of the Honda pulled out in front of the truck to block its path, court documents stated. The truck drove on the sidewalk and made a U-turn, and the Honda followed and then drove slowly in front of the truck. The driver of the truck sped up and struck the Honda from behind, according to the documents.
The truck then drove away and the driver of the Honda was seen standing outside with what appeared to be a handgun before attempting to follow the truck and getting into a minor collision with a different car, according to court documents.
Curtis later admitted to throwing items at the truck, pulling his car in front of it and shooting his gun at the truck, according to court documents. Curtis told police he was confrontational because the driver of the truck threw coins at his Honda, the documents stated.
Curtis said he felt he was in danger because he thought the driver of the truck may have had a gun, although he did not actually see the driver with a gun, court documents stated.
When police arrived on the scene, they found car debris and a black metal cup with “Coach Curtis” on it, according to Mesa Police Detective Laura Cervantes, a department spokesperson. Officers were unable to locate the driver of the truck.
Curtis is facing felony charges of endangerment, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, disorderly conduct with a deadly weapon and unlawful discharge of a firearm, Cervantes said. He was booked into a Maricopa County jail and is being held on a $50,000 bond, according to online jail records.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 9.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Former Corona Del Sol coach suspected in road rage incident, police say
