GLENDALE, AZ — A road rage victim is speaking out after nearly losing his life back in August.
"Any day could be your last day," said Aaron Brennard.
Brennard is doing a lot of reflecting these days. He's healing from a gunshot wound to the face and the constant memory of how it happened.
"He likes to ask the question about what to do if the guy in the orange shirt shows up," said Brennard, recalling the words coming from his 4-year-old son.
Last month, Brennard was driving home with his young son in the back seat of his truck when 32-year-old Tevin Hayes began following him on the Loop 101 in Glendale. Brennard says he had just merged onto the freeway near the I-17.
"I noticed he's following me, he changed lanes with me and then got up next to me. I wasn't really looking at him but I could tell he was trying to get my attention," said Brennard, who says no confrontation had taken place prior to that moment.
Worried, Brennard decided to skip his exit so Hayes wouldn't follow him home. He says Hayes was waving a gun, hot on his tail, following Brennard for at least 10 miles. Brennard says he tried to just keep driving, hoping Hayes would leave him alone.
He tried exiting a few times but Hayes didn't give up. The two eventually ended up at 59th Avenue and Beardsley, where Hayes got out of the vehicle, gun in hand.
"So I go around him with my car and he jumps back in his truck. I'm in the right lane just trying to go and he immediately gases it and slams into the side of my truck," said Brennard.
Brennard says he was trying to call 911 throughout the ordeal and that's when the unthinkable happened.
"He got out of his car again after slamming into me, got right up to my window and that's where he pulled the trigger," said Brennard. The bullet pierced through Brennard's nose.
He again tried to drive away as blood streamed down his face. The two vehicles ended up on the side of the road at 59th Avenue near Utopia.
"Within five minutes, the cops showed up," said Brennard. Hayes was ordered to drop the gun and placed under arrest.
Brennard still has no idea why he was targeted. Police say he did everything right, but sometimes it still isn't enough.
"He wanted to hurt me and he didn't care that there was a child in the car, and he didn't care what the consequences were," said Brennard, who has already had one surgery and must undergo another.
Hayes was hit with multiple charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Those charges could be elevated once the investigation is finished.
Hayes told detectives that the shooting was unintentional and he acknowledged seeing a child in the back seat. He reportedly told police that he wanted to make sure Brennard stopped for police so they could investigate the crash. However, Brennard says Hayes had waved the gun at him multiple times before the crash even occurred.
Brennard is now out of work, looking at a pile of medical bills he has no way to pay. Hayes was driving a car without insurance and Brennard only carried liability. A welder by trade, doctors won't allow him to work until his final surgery on his nose is complete.
He has now set up a GoFundMe account to help with those costs and working with the state to obtain money through the Victims of Violent Crime compensation fund.
Brennard and his son are both seeing a counselor to try and process the crime.
"It was just unnecessary and I think he's just an angry and hateful person," said Brennard.
