Man accused of shooting at cars on I-485, injuring 2, indicted on gun charge in Charlotte
A 39-year-old man who allegedly injured two people while driving on I-485 south and shooting at vehicles in January was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday.
Anil Dabydeen was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Carolina’s Western District.
On Jan. 8, Dabydeen allegedly shot at passing vehicles from his white Honda sedan on the highway, injuring two people who said they were driving when they were hit, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a press release.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police responded at 3:49 p.m. at the South Tryon Street exit, speaking to the two injured people and a witness who allegedly had a video of Dabydeen on the highway. The press release said the video showed Dabydeen’s 2013 white Honda Civic stopped on the side of highway while he was walking around, pointing his gun at passing vehicles.
Other witnesses showed police photos of Dabydeen and his vehicle, which had a South Dakota license plate, a CMPD report said. The report said the two people shot were in the same vehicle.
The driver was shot in the left elbow and the passenger in the left hand.
Dabydeen allegedly left after the shooting and then returned to the scene while police were investigating, the police report said. He sped past them in the grass on the side of the highway. Officers recognized the vehicle. An arrest warrant alleged Dabydeen almost hit four CMPD officers when he then took off speeding, running multiple red lights and stop signs.
“I then began a vehicle pursuit where subject drove well over 100 mph while running red lights and doing donuts in the intersection of I-485 out and Steele Creek Rd.,” an officer wrote in the warrant. “Subject eventually gave up when he turned on a dead end.”
The pursuit ended near the 6400 block of Ballybad Drive, close to where Dabydeen lived with his aunt, a police report said. An arrest warrant said Dabydeen was from Hollis, a Queens neighborhood in New York City.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office press release said Dabydeen was taken into custody, and that officers found a 9mm pistol that had been reported stolen, as well as a Taurus G3c pistol.
Dabydeen is prohibited from owning a gun or ammunition because of a prior first-degree manslaughter felony conviction in New York, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
He is currently in custody and could face a maximum of 15 years in prison on the federal gun charge, and also faces charges in Mecklenburg County.
