Kirkland man charged with murder in road-rage incident

KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) — Surveillance footage and witness statements contradict a Kirkland man’s claim that he fatally shot a driver in self-defense during a road rage encounter near the Seattle Costco store last month, prosecutors say.

Angel Valderrama, 38, was charged with second-degree murder, accused of shooting 68-year-old Robert Jensen on July 21, the Seattle Times reported. Jensen was unarmed. Valderrama remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail, according to jail records. He’s scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 1.

Five people, including Valderrama, called 911 to report the shooting near the entrance to Costco’s parking lot, according to charging papers.

Seattle police determined the confrontation between the two men began when Valderrama refused to allow Jensen to merge in front of him when the street’s two lanes were reduced to one, the charges say. Jensen got out of his truck while they were stopped at a red light, approached the Subaru and was shot seconds later, according to the charges.

Jensen stumbled around before he got back into his pickup, which slowly rolled forward and crashed into a fire hydrant and parked car, according to charging papers.

Valderrama told police Jensen had threatened to kill him, tried to grab Valderrama’s gun and had something in his hand, causing Valderrama to fear for his life, the charges say.

But after talking to witnesses and reviewing footage of the shooting, police determined several details of Valderrama’s account were contradicted by the evidence — namely that there was “little or no time for any significant interaction between the two men” before Jensen was shot, the charges say.

The video didn’t show Jensen grab for Valderrama’s gun, nor did it show that Jensen had anything in his hand, though police acknowledged distance and video clarity could have obscured a small item, charging papers say. At least one witness reported Jensen’s hands were empty.