KATY, Texas – An arrest has been made in a drive-by shooting that happened near a car wash in Katy.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office says Nicholas Dagostino is charged with aggravated assault in the shooting incident involving Amanda Smith as she was driving along South Mason Road earlier this month.
Court documents state Smith was pulling into the Simoniz Car Wash in the 900 block of Mason Road when she was shot through the window of her vehicle. The victim she said she heard a noise and realized that her driver’s side window was cracked and assumed it was hit by a rock.
Smith told investigators that when she pulled into the car wash and stopped to survey the damage, she realized that she had been shot when she saw blood running down her arm.
Investigators said surveillance video clearly shows a green Ford Explorer driving by the victim’s car and a quick muzzle flash. They concluded that it had to have come from the Explorer.
After investigators spoke with Dagostino, he said he shot at Smith claiming that she swerved into his lane twice and said the shooting was self-defense. He also admitted to being involved in similar situations in which he opened fire at another vehicle five times.
Investigators were also able to recover the handgun they believed was used in the incident from Dagostino.
HCSO plans to release more details on the arrest during a news conference Friday morning.