A Hayward man who reportedly shot at a vehicle on Highway 1 in May, injuring a 3-year-old child and the male driver, has been arrested.
Raphael Abduh-Salam, 33, is in custody in Contra Costa Jail. He will soon be transferred to Santa Cruz County Jail, where he faces multiple counts of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He has also been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Witnesses say that Abduh-Salam was driving erratically south on Highway 1 on May 26 when he pulled in front of a vehicle occupied by a family of five and slammed on his brakes.
The family’s vehicle struck Abduh-Salam’s car, and when the two pulled off at the Freedom Boulevard exit in Aptos, Abduh-Salam took 15 shots at the family with a Glock handgun, according to investigators.
The father, who was driving the car, was struck twice, and a 3-year-old child strapped into a car seat was struck by a bullet and shrapnel, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Lt. Ian Patrick said.
Abduh-Salam then fled, but a witness who took a video—and forensic tests on the spent shell casings that connected his gun to other similar crimes—helped investigators track him to his Hayward residence, where law enforcement officials served a search warrant, Patrick said.
California Highway Patrol officers assisted in the investigation and arrest.
At the time of his arrest, Abduh-Salam was on parole for similar charges, Patrick said.
According to online court records, he also assaulted a woman on May 7, 2013 just south of Sacramento when he pulled his car in front of hers and forced her to stop.
He then told her to call the police, but then took her phone, snapped it in half and threw it at her face.
Court records show that Abduh-Salam then repeatedly kicked the woman. He later told police he was angry because he thought the woman accelerated toward his car.
In another incident on June 7, 2013, Abduh-Salam reportedly aimed a gun at a separate victim during a road rage incident and pretended to take shots at them, court records show.
It is not yet clear when Abduh-Salam will make his first court appearance.
