A South Portland man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Portland to serve 10 years in prison for illegal possession of a gun in connection with what police called a “road rage” incident in Scarborough in May.
Wayne Sunderland, 32, who authorities initially identified as Sean Johnson, fired a gunshot into a vehicle on May 23 at a stoplight at the intersection of Payne Road and the Maine Turnpike Connector Road, missing both occupants.
Sunderland was on probation at the time, and is prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his felony record. He was convicted in Maine of both trafficking and aggravated trafficking of illegal drugs in 2012 and of aggravated forgery in 2013, according to state court records.
Scarborough police received a 911 call on the day of the shooting around 3:10 p.m. from a witness who reported seeing the driver of a red Jeep Grand Cherokee point a handgun out the window and fire at the other vehicle, a 2015 Dodge Challenger. The caller told police that the shooting happened on Payne Road near the Christmas Tree Shops and the Jeep went south on Payne Road afterward, according to police.
Officer Timothy Dalton spotted the speeding Jeep soon thereafter on Beech Ridge Road and followed it to the end of Johnson Road, where the driver got out and ran into the woods, according to state court records.
Police used a dog to track the man, later identified as Sunderland, and chased him in the woods until they captured him. The police dog also drew officers to a Glock 19 handgun buried beneath some leaves, according to court records.
Officers later located the victim and discovered the bullet had traveled through the passenger side window, narrowly missing the driver and passenger before lodging in the driver’s side door.
FBI Agent Patrick Clancy helped Scarborough police execute search warrants on Sunderland’s Jeep and the victim’s Dodge in the days after the shooting and helped recover the bullet from the driver’s side door of the Dodge, according to an affidavit he filed in federal court.
The victim, a 26-year-old man from Standish, has not responded to a phone request for an interview about the incident.
Sunderland pleaded guilty on July 9 to the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
In sentencing Sunderland to 10 years in federal prison, Judge Nancy Torresen gave him the maximum sentence allowed for the charge. She also sentenced him to serve three years of supervised release after completion of his prison term.
Sunderland was initially charged in state court on felony charges of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and misdemeanor charges of driving to endanger, refusing to submit to arrest and driving without a license.
The clerk’s office at the Cumberland County Courthouse had no record of that state case Thursday. The state prosecutor assigned to Sunderland’s case was unavailable to answer questions Thursday about what happened to those charges.
Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:
Twitter: @scottddolan
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