Police: ‘Guardian Angels’ On Duty in Road Rage

A Novi man was taken into custody early Tuesday morning after he allegedly unleashed his road rage with a volley of gunshots fired at a pickup truck that passed him in the vicintity of 23 Mile Road and Cypress Street in New Baltimore.

“Looking at the pickup truck, they clearly had guardian angels looking after them,” New Baltimore Police Chief Tim Wiley told The Macomb Daily. “Having seen where the bullets went … it could have turned out a lot different.”

The couple in the pickup weren’t injured, nor was the dog, which was along for the late-night drive.

The 36-year-old driver of the full-sized pickup admitted to police he was following too closely behind the compact car, driven by Mark Anthony Varner, 45, of Novi , who reportedly slammed on his brakes to send a message.

When the pickup pulled around to stop, Varner reportedly fired multiple shots at the truck.

With the assistance of Chesterfield Police, New Baltimore authorities took Varner into custody and recovered a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun from his vehicle. Multiple shell casings were recovered from the area near 42-2 District Court, where the incident took place.

Varner was arraigned Tuesday and charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder, two counts of felony firearm, and one count of discharge of a weapon from inside a vehicle. All four are felonies. He is being held on $1o0,000 bond.