Army vet with PTSD empties gun at woman’s SUV in Columbus road rage incident, police say
An Army combat veteran has been jailed without bond after allegedly emptying his pistol at another vehicle during a road rage confrontation Thursday in the parking lot of Dick’s Sporting Goods on Whittlesey Boulevard.
Police said Joe Harvey fired off at least nine bullets in the busy shopping area around 11:30 a.m. as patrons took cover outside Dick’s and adjacent stores.
Aiming at the front end of a Chevy Trailblazer that Velisha Hearlson was driving with her 15-year-old daughter in the front passenger seat, Harvey’s first five bullets hit the hood of his Chevy Silverado pickup before the next four hit the hood of the Trailblazer, officers said.
Harvey emptied his 9mm pistol, which could have held 10 bullets, but police were unsure whether a 10th shot was fired.
The former soldier then pulled into a parking space, set the empty gun on his dashboard, called 911 and waited for police. He was charged with two counts each of aggravated assault and of using a gun to commit a crime, and with reckless conduct and reckless driving.
During Harvey’s preliminary hearing Friday in Columbus Recorder’s Court, Officer Michael Clements testified that Harvey and Hearlson both were going east on the boulevard when Hearlson moved into Harvey’s lane, and he felt she cut him off. He followed as she turned into the Dick’s parking lot at 5550 Whittlesey Blvd.
Both drivers honked at each other, Clements said, and Harvey swerved toward the Trailblazer as if he intended to hit it. Hearlson turned up one of the parking aisles intending to circle around to get Harvey’s tag number, and he then cut around to bring the two vehicles face to face.
Clements said the two drivers exchanged profane insults before Harvey at first brandished his then-unloaded pistol, and then loaded it as Hearlson revved her engine. With the two vehicles just 10 to 15 feet apart, he stepped onto the running board outside his door and started shooting, Clements said.
After surrendering to police, Harvey admitted shooting at Hearlson’s SUV, the officer said.
He said Harvey had a previous road rage incident in which he stomped his brakes because he felt a motorist behind him was tailgating. The other driver had to swerve off the road to avoid a crash, but no charges were filed, Clements said.
No bond
After Clements’ testimony, Harvey’s attorney Ralston Jarrett and prosecutor Nicholas Hud debated whether the veteran should get a bond that could allow his release from jail.
Jarrett argued Harvey served 32 years in the Army, with four deployments to war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and likely qualifies to have his case shifted to Veterans Court, which is designed to deal with mental health issues resulting from military service. Harvey has no felony record, and could surrender all his firearms if released, Jarrett said.
Hud asked Judge Julius Hunter to order the 52-year-old held without bond, arguing that if someone turning in front of him so triggered Harvey that he emptied a pistol in a public parking lot, then he remained a danger to others, should a similar confrontation ensue.
Hunter agreed with Hud. “The concern of the court is, going forward, what is somebody else ticks your client off?” the judge asked Jarrett. “How is his response going to be? … You go out there and drive today, somebody may very well pull in front of you or pull out, and you have to avoid them, but you just can’t go follow them and you can’t go pulling a gun and shooting.”
Jarrett afterward said Harvey retired from the Army in 2018 with “severe PTSD” as a consequence of serving in Desert Storm and other combat operations. “He’s seen some things as a vet, as many have,” the attorney said, adding Harvey’s treatment for the condition was interrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Standing outside court with her teen daughter, Hearlson, 39, did not think Harvey’s PTSD excused his conduct, which she feared would resume, were he released.
“I think he doesn’t need to be on the road, and he definitely don’t need to own a gun,” she said.
She said Harvey made eye contact with her daughter as his bullets hit the Trailblazer’s hood, each shot advancing toward her, a memory she’s unlikely to forget.
“My child might have PTSD now from what he done to her,” she said.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 1:45 PM.