By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com
Detectives plan to interview the surviving witness in a fatal shooting and suicide that grew out of a road rage incident in El Dorado County.
The fatal incident began about 2:45 p.m. Sunday in the Somerset area.
"We don't have much information beyond that," said Sgt. Jim Byers, spokesman for the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department.
Officers responded to Newtown Road and Broadway near Placerville after receiving calls about gunshots and an automobile accident.
They found Jenson Cornelius Kohutek (far left), 36, dead in a burgundy Toyota truck. Jack Eugene Larson (left), 49, was critically wounded in a green Toyota sport utility vehicle.
Larson was transported to Marshall Hospital where he died.
Deputies said Kohutek shot Larson and then took his own life. A 72-year-old woman passenger in Larson's SUV was not injured.
Deputies said the two men did not know each other. The dispute between the men apparently was the outgrowth of road rage.
"It sounds like the initial incident was instigated by Kohutek, and then it was a continuing event up until the point they crashed," said Byers.
The cars ended up side-by-side, just off the road. Kohutek did not get out of his car to shoot, Byers said.
"He just raised the gun and fired into the car, narrowly missing the female passenger who was in the front seat," said Byers. "Obviously, she is pretty traumatized."
She has been interviewed once by detectives, and they plan a follow-up interview.
It remains unclear what prompted the road rage.
"There are no witnesses, beside her," Byers said of the female passenger. "There were other witnesses along the way who saw the swerving and weaving and the hand gestures."
A road rage incident that somewhat mirrors what happened in El Dorado County, occurred when Donald Rodger Bell shot himself to death on May 20, 2001,
He committed suicide near the roadside memorial on Highway 50 to the man he was accused of killing in a road-rage incident about three weeks earlier.
Investigators said Bell, 52, of Elk Grove called 911 on his cell phone about 10 a.m. to tell police that he intended to shoot himself. He asked the 911 operator to relay a message to his wife, and then fired one shot to his head.
Bell faced voluntary manslaughter charges in the shooting death of Timothy Michael Mann, 53, of Orangevale on May 6, 2001. Bell was out on bail.
The incident between Mann and Bell started just before 11:30 a.m. when both motorists were traveling with family members east on Highway 50 near Bradshaw Road. Sheriff's officials said Bell, who was driving a small white pickup truck, pulled into traffic in front of Mann's four-door sedan.
The two exchanged angry words and gestures while continuing east before exiting at Hazel Avenue. Mann pulled into the left-hand turn lane and Bell followed him in his truck.
While they were sitting at the light waiting for it to change, Bell allegedly got out of the car and gestured to Mann. Mann left his car, and the two men began arguing. Witnesses said Mann took a swing at Bell, who then shot Mann.
Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.
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