Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about expressing love, not opening fire from a moving vehicle and shooting another man in the leg.
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Prince William County police said the two men had been feuding over a woman when they came across each other in their cars on the streets of Manassas on Sunday night. One of the men, Haywood Sterling Newman, is now behind bars after allegedly shooting and chasing his 33-year-old rival, police said.
It was a little before 11 p.m. Sunday when, police said, a 33-year-old man from Gainesville was driving on Quail Road near Remington Road when he came across Newman. They recognized each other, and Newman drove after the victim. At some point, police said, Newman opened fire and shot the man in the leg.
When the shots went off, the victim told police that he fled in his car, crashing it into a snow bank, police said. He then called a family member to get a ride to the hospital and was picked up by a 35-year-old woman from Manassas. The woman who picked up the shooting victim was not at the center of the lovers’ feud, police said.
As they were driving to the hospital, Newman allegedly began pursuing them, police said. He pulled alongside the car and once again opened fire, police said. This time, no one was struck by the bullets. The victims escaped by hiding behind a snow bank near Westgate Plaza until police arrived.
The man who was shot was taken to the hospital, treated and released, authorities said.
Officer Michael L. Jordan later spotted Newman’s car on Sudley Manor Drive near Williamson Boulevard, police said. Jordan pulled him over and arrested Newman on a variety of charges including malicious wounding, shooting into an occupied vehicle, shooting from a vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Newman had been convicted by a Prince William County judge of selling cocaine in a school zone in 1999 and pleaded guilty to burglary and grand larceny charges in 2000, court records show.
Newman is being held without bail and has a court date scheduled for April 7.
