MONTICELLO — A Moab man was arrested Monday night after he opened fire on a motorist as both men were driving about 20 miles north of Monticello.

Both drivers were headed south on U-191 when the shooting occurred, a San Juan County Sheriff's Office press release states. The gunman, 25, reportedly cut in front of a semitrailer truck at about 8 p.m., after which the truck driver flashed his headlights at the shooter, who was driving a sports utility vehicle.

The truck and the SUV then continued to pass each other back and forth several times over the next 10 miles, each time trying to force each other off the road or keep the passing vehicle from returning to the travel lane, sheriff's office Lt. Monte Dalton said.

At about the 10-mile mark, the SUV driver brandished a weapon at the truck driver. The SUV driver then reached out his window and fired at the truck with what police say was an A-15 military-issue rifle.

The truck driver called 911 for help, which was followed by a call to police from the SUV driver. The gunman had told dispatchers he would stop his car on U-191 near the airport north of Monticello and turn himself in, but he fled.

With the assistance of officers from Monticello police and the Utah Fish and Game Division, county deputies began a search of nearby dirt roads, eventually locating the driver after he called 911 a second time, Dalton said.

The man was booked into the San Juan County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault, Dalton said.

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