MIDDLEBURG – An 18-year-old was arrested after a pickup truck and a Clay County Sheriff’s Office patrol car were struck by a plastic bottle filled with a cocktail on Sunday, April 6.

Caleb James Austin, of Middleburg, was charged with two counts of throwing “missiles” at a vehicle and two counts of criminal mischief after a Ram pickup and the patrol car of Lt. Zachary Cox were struck on County Road 218 at 3:19 a.m. The pickup sustained a cracked windshield.

Witnesses, including Lt. Cox, identified Austin as throwing the objects. Deputies found a broken plastic jug on the ground, similar to what was thrown at vehicles on the ground where Austin was arrested. Austin’s bond was set at $20,007.

Road rage leads to attempted

murder charges for Middleburg man

 FLEMING ISLAND – According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, a 26-year-old man was arrested Wednesday, April 2, after the agency said he shot at another car in an apparent road-rage incident on U.S. Highway 17 and Live Oak Lane.

Angel Domingo Valdes Jr., of Middleburg, was charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder after CCSO said a couple were driving south on US 17 at County Road 220. When they got to Live Oak Lane, they moved into the turn lane, but Valdes moved in front of them and blocked them. He left his truck, yelled at them, and fired three shots at them with a handgun before driving away toward Green Cove Springs. One of the rounds struck the driver’s-side door.

The couple’s car was rendered disabled by the shooting in the median of US 17.

The sheriff’s office’s Real Time Crime Center identified the truck's license tag and alerted other deputies and the Green Cove Springs Police Department. With assistance from GCSPD, Valdes was stopped and taken into custody within nine minutes of the shooting. Law enforcement deputies and officers found a firearm in the truck.

The victims in the car weren’t injured.

Valdes’ bond was set at $1.5 million.

Gainesville woman killed

in collision on SR 21

 MIDDLEBURG – A 72-year-old Gainesville woman was killed in a head-on collision Monday afternoon, and her passenger suffered serious injuries after the driver of a pickup truck crossed into her lane on State Road 21 and struck her.

The Florida Highway Patrol didn’t release the victims’ names, but the agency said the driver of the pickup truck was a 69-year-old man from Keystone Heights. He suffered minor injuries.

The victim’s SUV was traveling southbound and overturned on impact.

The accident happened north of Dade Road, and traffic was backed up on SR 21 for nearly 90 minutes.