The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A Highland Park man was sentenced recently to five years in state prison for a 2023 road rage incident in which he fired a gun at another driver on Easton Avenue.
Gerald S. Chapman, 41, was sentenced on November 15. He faced 10 years in prison.
Chapman is ineligible for parole for 42 months, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
Chapman was convicted in September of 2nd Degree Possession of a Firearm for an Unlawful Purpose, 2nd Degree Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, two counts of 2nd Degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and 3rd Degree Hindering Apprehension.
According to police, on May 5, 2023, Chapman was involved in a road rage incident with an unidentified driver while the two were in heavy traffic on Easton Avenue, near the northbound exit to Route 287.
Trial testimony revealed that Chapman pulled alongside the other driver’s car and hit the passenger-side mirror with his hand.
Chapman then allegedly drove behind and alongside the driver’s side of the other man’s car, pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired two shots at the victim’s car, hitting it in the driver’s window and the rear driver’s-side door as the victim was stopped on the street, trying to fix his mirror.
Chapman then left the scene, according to the testimony.
Chapman also had his two young daughters in the car at the time, according to police, and disposed of the gun and other evidence.
Participating in the investigation were the Franklin Township Police Department, the Investigative Division of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Forensic Division of the New Jersey State Police.
