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Bryant A. Paradine, 30, of Littlestown, learned his fate on Tuesday, Feb. 25, when a Frederick County judge handed down a 25-year sentence, suspending 20 years but locking him up for five years with no chance for parole after he pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and using a firearm in a violent crime.
The encounter went down on Aug. 14, 2024, around 7:30 a.m., when Maryland State Police rushed to the southbound lanes of Route 15 near Tippin Drive after a frantic 911 caller reported a man firing shots from his SUV’s driver’s side window at another motorist, according to prosecutors in Frederick County.
The victim, who also called 911, confirmed he was shot at during the harrowing ordeal. “He was tailgating me, cut me off, brake checked me, pulled out a gun and pulled the trigger,” the victim told the court.
“Why did he think he had the right to decide that my family would never see me again and make my wife a widow?”
Cops later recovered a bullet lodged in the victim’s vehicle.
Witnesses described the shooter’s ride as an early 2000s maroon Chevy Tahoe with Pennsylvania plates — and it did not take long for police to track him down.
Thurmont Police surveillance cameras captured Paradine’s SUV turning onto Frederick Road and Maryland State Police tracked him to his nearby job, where he promptly confessed to pulling the trigger during the road rage meltdown.
A search of Paradine’s Tahoe turned up a loaded Canik 9mm handgun and a spent 9mm casing.
“Road rage is a real danger to our community,” Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith said. “We must send a message that if you are willing to jeopardize someone’s life, the repercussions will change your life forever.”
Paradine will serve three years of supervised probation after his release, with mandatory anger management classes. He also lost his right to own a firearm for life.
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