Man Allegedly Pointed a Gun at a Woman in a Walmart Parking Lot

At around 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 9-1-1 received a call about a road rage incident that happened at the Walmart parking in the 4000 block of Highway 93 South. Before the officers made contact with the complainant, she contacted dispatch again and said that she and her fiancé had located the suspect vehicle and were following it on Russell Street.

Dispatch told the complainant to get away from the suspect vehicle to a safe location. They then drove to Meineke Auto Care and waited to speak with an officer. Police Public Information Officer Travis Welsh explains.

“The vehicle was eventually reported to be stopped near the intersection of Burns and Cooper where they observed two occupants get out of the vehicle,” Welsh said. “The officer located the vehicle at that location and eventually associated it with a residence in the 1700 block of Cooley Street where they made contact with suspect 21-year-old Taylor Roulette.”

An officer spoke to the complainant who appeared to be on the verge of tears and was visibly shaking. She advised that she had been the passenger in her fiancé’s vehicle along with her two children. Her fiancé approached the north exit onto Brooks Street and was cut off by a maroon Pontiac Grand Prix. The Pontiac came to a stop at the stop sign and remained stopped for a few minutes, despite being able to pull forward into traffic. She said her fiancé honked his horn at the Pontiac to get it to move. The driver of the Pontiac then flipped her fiancé off and continued to block the exit.

She said her fiancé opened his door to exit the vehicle and confront the driver, but she asked him to stay in the vehicle because she knows he has a "short temper." He agreed and remained in the vehicle. She then exited the vehicle and approached the Pontiac to ask that they move.

She approached the passenger side front window. As she approached the window, she said the driver immediately pointed a pistol at her face. She said that when the driver pointed the gun at her, she was terrified and thought she was going to die so she ran back to her vehicle and got in.

When officers responded to Cooley Street, they made contact with a male who claimed to be a passenger in the suspect vehicle. The officer asked the male if anything had happened in the parking lot of Walmart, and when asked if Taylor had pointed a gun at anyone during the incident, the male replied that yes, Taylor had a gun during the incident.

Officers eventually made contact with Taylor. He stated he pointed the gun at the passenger door of his vehicle, but slightly away from the female. The officer asked Taylor where the pistol was that he used during the altercation. Taylor stated he had taken the pistol inside and put it on the bed in his bedroom. Taylor then granted permission for officers to enter the residence and retrieve the pistol.

Taylor was placed under arrest and transported to the Missoula County Detention Center without incident. He was charged with one count of felony assault with a weapon.