Carpoolers' Road Rage Led To Main Line Shooting; Then, 6 Guns Vanished: Court Docs

TREDYFFRIN, PA — A bullet lodged in a car door, facial-recognition software, and a duffel bag of missing guns led to arrests this week of two carpooling coworkers accused of a road rage incident that resulted in gunfire last spring in Tredyffrin, according to court documents Patch obtained.

Philadelphia residents Sophay Yem and Intanon Chay were charged with attempted murder after a driver accidentally cut them off while getting onto Route 202 and then left the highway with a bullet in his driver's side door, authorities said of the May 11 incident.

There were also objects — possibly glass bottles — thrown at the victim's car while Yem tried to run him off the road with brake-checks, flashing headlights and aggressive merging, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Tredyffrin Police Det. Sara Dougherty.

The victim reported to police the next day that he believed his car had been shot. In the moment, the victim heard what sounded like glass shattering in his ear while he was halfway down the exit ramp. His vehicle shifted.

He later discovered a bullet hole in one of his driver's side doors, Dougherty said.

The victim said he "may have inadvertently" cut off a speeding Jeep while entering the Route 30 bypass on the route, according to the affidavit. As both vehicles continued on Route 202 northbound, the Jeep driver pulled up next to the victim and the passenger flipped him off, Dougherty said.

The road rage escalated down Route 202 northbound. The vehicles separated when the victim took the Paoli exit to Route 252.

Detectives identified Yem as the suspect driver in just a day. On the night of the incident, a Jeep Wrangler matching the victim's description was detected by a license plate reader in town.

The vehicle was registered to a Philadelphia woman. Police checked her social media, which contained many photos with a man, who they identified as Yem by using facial-recognition technology.

Dougherty says she called Yem and told him she was aware he was involved in a May 11 road-rage incident. Yem confirmed and said the other driver "almost killed us," according to the affidavit.

During the call, Yem agreed to be interviewed at the Tredyffrin Police station. But he canceled the day of, texting that he was seeking attorney representation.

Phone records obtained in June showed that immediately after Yem's call with Dougherty, he spoke with Chay on the phone for 10 minutes, the detective said.

Yem is related to Chay's wife, and both men frequently carpooled to their job at a remediation company. Detectives believe the road-rage incident happened on their drive home from a job in Lancaster.

Yem had two known addresses in Philadelphia, splitting time between Chay's home on Front Street and a household on Federal Street, where the registered Jeep owner lives. Yem's relationship to the woman isn't specified in court documents.

In June, police executed search warrants at both households and seized nine guns and other firearm-related items, Dougherty said. Under Chay's bed, they found a duffel bag with six empty gun cases.

Chay returned home during the search, and police asked him if he knew about the empty gun cases. He told police they were taken during a robbery at his mother's place, when his brother was killed.

Philadelphia Police confirmed to investigators that Chay's brother was killed, but there were no reports of firearms stolen from his mother's home.

Ballistics experts believed the projectile found in the car door was of a caliber that matched two of the missing firearms, which were registered to Chay.

Authorities have not said which suspect allegedly fired the gun.

The final piece of evidence on the affidavit came in Monday, when State Police positively identified gunshot residue from swabs collected during a search of the Jeep.

Tredyffrin Police Cpt. Tyler Moyer acknowledged the role of modern technology in cracking the case.

"Our detectives immediately went to work, utilizing the technological capabilities available to this department to identify and track down the individuals responsible," Moyer said in a statement.

Yem and Chay were charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, terroristic threats and related offenses.

A judge set Yem's bail at $500,000 and Chay's at $350,000 during arraignments this week. They remain jailed in Chester County after failing to post bail.

Both men are set to return to court Sept. 17 for preliminary hearings.

Chay's attorney, Patrick Thomas Doherty, told Patch his client "denies any involvement in this shooting."

Yem's attorney, Thomas Kenny, said he and his client are "disputing the Commonwealth's allegations, and we will have our day in court."

Tredyffrin Police are leading the ongoing investigation with help from Chester County Detectives. Anyone with information related to the investigation can call Tredyffrin Police at 610-644-3221.