An 18-year-old Phoenix man is facing a stack of felony charges after what state officials describe as a road-rage encounter that ended with a drive-by shooting and a crash.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety has identified the suspect as Eder Soto Torres and says he was booked into jail on multiple felony counts. The agency’s initial public post did not say where the confrontation happened or whether anyone was injured.
What the state says
In a post on X, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said Eder Soto Torres, 18, of Phoenix, was booked into jail on charges that include drive-by shooting, aggravated assault and armed robbery.
The department’s post also lists public information manager Warren Trent and public information officers Sgt. Kameron Lee, Raul Garcia and Bart Graves as contacts on the case. DPS did not provide additional details on the circumstances of the crash, any injuries or a specific location.
Road rage is on the rise
State data show road-rage crashes in Arizona roughly doubled between 2020 and 2024, and officials have pointed to reductions in traffic enforcement and rising tensions on the road as possible factors, according to reporting by Arizona's Family / KOLD. Investigations into these confrontations often hinge on dashcam or cellphone video, witness statements and competing claims of self-defense.
Legal implications
The charges named by DPS are felonies under Arizona law. Armed robbery is classified as a class 2 felony under Arizona Revised Statutes section 13-1904, and aggravated assault, which includes assaults involving a deadly weapon, is defined in section 13-1204, according to the Arizona Legislature.
If prosecutors move ahead with the case and secure convictions on those counts, the statutes allow for potential prison time and other penalties.
What’s next
The DPS post notes that Soto Torres was booked into jail but does not provide a timeline for his first court appearance or arraignment, nor does it include detailed victim information, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
At the time of publication, we were unable to find additional public records or news releases beyond the department’s post. In cases like this, further updates typically surface through the county jail roster, filings from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office or subsequent releases from Phoenix police or DPS.
