A Westfield man allegedly forced a friend to keep driving at gunpoint before the car crashed into a guardrail on Keystone Parkway, then told the driver to pull over at Carmel High School, where both got out of the car and he fired two shots into the air and threatened to shoot them before officers arrived. Christian Emilov Chorbajiyski now faces a stack of felony charges tied to the confrontation at Indiana's largest public high school.
Court documents reviewed by Fox 59 describe a night that began when the alleged victim left work after Chorbajiyski asked them to hang out, and the two started drinking at the victim's residence. According to the victim's account in those documents, they felt uncomfortable refusing to drive because Chorbajiyski allegedly became violent when drunk, and once in the car, he kept a gun in his lap throughout the drive. When the victim asked him to put it away, he told them to keep driving instead, the documents state.
The situation escalated as Chorbajiyski allegedly threatened the victim during the drive and urged them to speed up while entering the Keystone Parkway ramp toward US 31, per the same court documents. The car then crashed into a barrier on the ramp, the victim told investigators. Officers were later dispatched to that ramp and observed damage to a guardrail there, with the Carmel Police Department suspecting the BMW driver struck a concrete barrier before driving away.
Forced Onto School Grounds, Then Gunfire
Chorbajiyski told officers that his friend had left the scene and that he instructed the friend to pull over at Carmel High School, according to court documents. Once there, he demanded the car be parked on school property and called his mother after getting out of the vehicle. He then threw the gun into the grass, and when the victim picked it up, he demanded they return it.
The victim made Chorbajiyski promise not to hurt them before handing the gun back, per the documents, but he allegedly threatened to fight the victim unless they returned it. Court records state Chorbajiyski then fired two shots into the air and pointed the gun at the victim, threatening to shoot them. He later admitted to firing the shots but denied pointing the weapon at his friend, according to court documents.
The Carmel Police Department received a 911 call reporting a shots-fired incident at the high school, per court documents, and officers arriving on scene found two people beside a damaged BMW sedan. After finding a gun on Chorbajiyski, officers detained both individuals and detected an odor of alcohol on his breath. He reportedly told officers he had been drinking and had called a friend to drive him around before the crash. Officers ultimately took Chorbajiyski into custody and released the victim.
Felony Charges Carry Years of Prison Exposure
Chorbajiyski was preliminarily charged with criminal confinement with a deadly weapon, a Level 3 felony, along with criminal confinement involving use of a vehicle, a Level 5 felony, and five counts of intimidation with a deadly weapon, also Level 5 felonies. He also faces two counts of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, pointing a firearm, and possession of a firearm on school property, all Level 6 felonies, plus two counts of public intoxication, a Class B misdemeanor.
A Level 3 felony conviction in Indiana carries a fixed prison term of between 3 and 16 years, with an advisory sentence of 9 years and fines up to $10,000, according to McNeely Law. Level 5 felonies carry a sentencing range of 1 to 6 years, while Level 6 felonies, the lowest felony tier in the state, carry between 6 months and 2.5 years, per Coots, Henke & Wheeler, P.C. The public intoxication counts, meanwhile, are capped at 180 days in county jail and fines reaching $1,000 under Class B misdemeanor statutes.
The firearm-on-school-property charge stands apart because it applies regardless of whether classes were in session. Indiana Code § 35-47-9-2 classifies knowingly or intentionally possessing a firearm on school property as a Level 6 felony, with narrow exemptions limited to law enforcement officers or firearms locked out of sight inside a vehicle, according to the Giffords Law Center. How prosecutors ultimately handle the stacking of Level 3, Level 5, and Level 6 charges against Chorbajiyski remains a question for formal court filings to resolve.
A Campus Already Familiar With Emergency Response
Hamilton County booking records show Chorbajiyski, a Westfield resident, was booked into the Hamilton County Jail at 8:08 a.m. on the morning of the incident following his arrest by Carmel police for offenses that occurred around 12:56 a.m. Carmel High School serves more than 5,200 students across grades 9 through 12, making it the largest public high school by enrollment in Indiana, according to Carmel Clay Schools. The campus maintains a dedicated School Resource Officer unit, operated jointly with the Carmel Police Department, to handle on-site safety matters.
The stretch of roadway where the crash occurred is part of Keystone Parkway, a four-lane expressway through Carmel featuring grade-separated roundabout interchanges that let through traffic flow beneath local cross streets toward US 31, according to American Structurepoint. The corridor near the high school has seen other serious incidents recently: about a month before this arrest, a 37-year-old driver died in a single-vehicle crash after hitting a concrete roundabout wall at Main Street and Lexington Boulevard, adjacent to the campus, as reported by WTHR. That crash was investigated by Carmel police alongside the Hamilton County Coroner's Office.
Several open questions remain as the case moves through the courts, including whether formal filings will alter the preliminary charges, whether Chorbajiyski held a valid handgun permit, and what bail conditions or mental health evaluations Hamilton County judges may impose at initial appearances. The case adds to a string of recent Carmel law enforcement matters, including a separate caregiver facing charges in an alleged patient card theft reported by Hoodline this week.
