A St. Louis man is behind bars without bond after police say he chased down a Toyota Prius on a motorcycle and fired at it for nearly two miles through Midtown, in a shooting that unfolded in front of an on-duty officer. Rafael H. Garrido, 36, now faces six felony counts tied to the Sept. 18 incident, which began in the 500 block of South Grand Boulevard.
According to FOX 2, police say Garrido was riding a motorcycle when he encountered the Prius near Grand and Forest Park Parkway. From there, investigators allege he trailed the car for roughly two miles, firing at it the entire way. An on-duty officer witnessed part of the encounter but was unable to make an arrest on the spot, the outlet reported.
Cameras and Officer Testimony Build the Case
Real-Time Crime Center cameras captured part of the shooting as it happened, helping investigators piece together the pursuit after the fact. From there, detectives were able to trace the motorcycle used in the attack back to Garrido, according to the same FOX 2 report.
The officer witnessed part of the encounter, and cameras captured part of the shooting.
Search of Dutchtown Home Turns Up Gun, Drugs
More than a month after the shooting, police searched Garrido's home in the Dutchtown neighborhood on Oct. 22. Officers reported finding a 9mm pistol, ammunition, and suspected narcotics inside, per the station's report. It is not established whether that firearm is connected to the gun allegedly used in the September shooting.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office subsequently charged Garrido with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, and two counts of armed criminal action. Under Missouri's unlawful possession statute, felons and certain other individuals are barred from possessing firearms, a restriction that figures into the weapons counts against Garrido.
Prior Convictions and Upcoming Court Dates
Garrido was convicted of second-degree assault and armed criminal action in March 2009, and later convicted of first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, and armed criminal action in October 2014. Missouri's Case.net system, which tracks public court case information, notes that its records are not considered an official court record.
Garrido remains jailed without bond as his case moves forward. He has a confined docket hearing scheduled for Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, and a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 16, according to the same account. Neither the outcome of Thursday's hearing nor the November proceeding has been determined yet.
The shooting adds to a string of road rage cases that have drawn police attention around St. Louis in recent years, including a July 2024 pursuit-turned-shooting in a north St. Louis neighborhood and a separate case from this past March in which a driver was accused of cutting off another motorist before opening fire, both reported by FOX 2. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department also responded to an apparent road rage shooting in April 2025 that left a 39-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds.
