Details revealed on bypass road rage incident that left one shot

Kenneth Satterlee

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- On Sunday, June 16, around 9 p.m., Soth Bend police responded to reports of shots fired related to a road rage incident near the area of 6424 Brick Rd.

The official affidavit states a 911 caller told dispatch they were following a white Ford F-150 with a white trailer, which had been involved with a shooting on the bypass.

Police say they located the vehicle matching the description in the parking lot of the Pilot gas station near Brick Road and ordered the occupants out of the truck.

According to the affidavit, two men exited the Ford. The driver was identified as Kenneth Satterlee, of Canton, Ga., and his passenger, identified as a man Satterlee met on Facebook who caught a ride to a Michigan race, which they were now returning from.

Court documents state at the same time police were detaining the suspects, the second white truck involved with the road rage incident was located with a gunshot victim on the bypass near Ironwood Road.

Police found a white Chevy pickup with the hazard lights on and identified the driver as a Hispanic man.

Documents state the man was suffering from a grazing gunshot wound to his left shoulder and a through and through gunshot wound to his right shoulder.

The Chevy driver told police he was coming back to Elkhart from the Silver Beach area in St. Jospeh, Mich., when the incident occurred after the U.S.31/U.S. 20 interchange just inside the Indiana side of the state line.

The Chevy driver was then taken to the hospital for treatment.

An outside witness, the 911 caller, told police he was driving back from the beach with his family on the bypass when he saw the Ford travelling in the western lane heading south, while the Chevy was in the eastern lane travelling south.

The witness described the driver as a white man with a chubbier face and 5 o'clock shadow.

The witness told officers he saw the Ford driver holding a blackish/grayish gun outside the window and then fire several rounds at the Chevy.

According to documents, this occurred just before Cleveland Road and the witness went on to say an ejected casing hit his vehicle.

The witness continued, saying he then followed the Ford off the first exit after the incident and called 911 as they pulled into the Pilot station.

Police searched the cab of the Ford while conducting the investigation, locating a .380 handgun with attached belt clip, determined to belong to Satterlee's passenger.

Documents state the .380 was still fully loaded with a round chambered.

Police say they also located an empty holster for a full-sized handgun in the passenger compartment, as well as a projectile in the floorboard area.

Documents go on to state officers got a search warrant for the trailer towed by the Ford, and inside found a Springfield XDS .45 Cal handgun with an empty magazine, but one round chambered.

According to the affidavit, Satterlee denied any knowledge of the gun or firing any weapon.

Officers spoke with the gunshot victim at the hospital where he again stated he'd been heading back to Elkhart from Michigan.

The victim told officers when he came across the suspect vehicle, it would not allow him to get onto U.S. 20.

He described the vehicle as a white truck with a white trailer, driven by a white man in his 50s at about 5'11 and 220 pounds. The victim added there was a passenger in the truck.

The victim said he didn't see either occupant waving a gun or making threatening gestures, but he did see the passenger rummaging around in the center console area.

After the white truck didn't let him merge, the victim said they began shouting back and forth at each other, but he could not make out what the other driver was saying.

The victim told officers this went on for five to 10 minutes before he was shot.

Documents state when the shots were fired, the victim was in the left lane heading south while the other vehicle was in the right lane.

The victim stated immediately after the shots were fired, the suspect truck got off the bypass before the S.R. 2 exit, near the Pilot station, and he kept driving because he wanted to get away from the situation.

The victim later pulled over and called police due to his injuries.

Satterlee and his passenger were read their Miranda rights and then chose to speak to police.

The passenger told officers the two were heading back from a race in Martin, Mich., where they'd been for three days at a racetrack.

Satterlee raced while the passenger was a spectator.

The passenger told police he was dozing off while they were driving before the incident but remembered the truck swerving. He went on to say a few minutes later they pulled off into the Pilot station, "but didn't know why."

According to court documents, the passenger initially denied any gunshots, but when confronted later about this, he said Satterlee had fired "probably five shots."

The passenger then gave a detailed account, telling police he woke up after the truck swerved to a driver in a Chevy truck giving them the middle finger.

The passenger told police Satterlee tried to go around the Chevy, but it would speed up, move over, slow down, or slam on his brakes.

At one point, the Chevy forced the Ford over to the shoulder and stopped, according to the passenger. The Chevy driver then allegedly got out and started yelling at them.

The passenger then says the Chevy driver got back in his truck and drove off.

Officers were then told by the passenger that the Chevy came beside them again doing the same thing, and after a few miles Satterlee grabbed his gun and fired rounds at the truck.

Detectives interviewed Satterlee, who stated that he was about 10 miles north of the Pilot truck stop when the Chevy was merging onto the road.

Satterlee told authorities he didn't move over as there were other cars, but he slowed way down.

He said he was hauling a 28-foot trailer.

Later, he said a truck came up beside him with the driver flipping him off and "worked him into the rumble strips".

Satterlee told police the truck let him back over before going in front of and beside him while flipping him off.

Satterlee continued saying he found a spot to pull over, and the other truck also stopped, at which point the driver got out and made hand gestures, before they both got back in their cars and continued driving.

A short time later, before the Pilot station exit, Satterlee said heard several pops.

Documents state Satterlee claimed he didn't know they were gunshots and didn't call the police.

He told police he had a Ruger .380 LCP in the console, and it wouldn't be missing any rounds.

He added it had a belt clip, so it wouldn't need a holster.

Police asked him why two witnesses would say he fired rounds, or how someone had been injured.

Satterlee suggested the other driver shot himself, according to the affidavit.

Satterlee also said he had borrowed the truck, but he owned the trailer and everything inside.

He denied knowing about other guns in the vehicle, or what gun the empty holster found would go to.

South Bend Police Department's crime lab determined that the projectile located in the driver's side floor area of Satterlee's truck had been fired by the .45 caliber handgun found in the secure key/key code locked trailer.

The State of Indiana has requested the court to detain Satterlee, until a bail hearing in open court, due to him being considered a flight risk, since he has no known ties to the area and was passing through, and a substantial danger to himself, others, or the community.