Truck Driver Accused of I-83 Road Rage Shooting Faces Jury
A truck driver accused of shooting at a family traveling on I-83 last year is facing a jury this week in Baltimore County.
Christian Ramos, 29, of Melrose Park, Ill., is charged with three counts of attempted murder and other charges related to the highway shooting near the Shawan Road exit on June 18, 2025.
Maryland State Police say Ramos fired one shot from a handgun into the passenger side of a 2016 Toyota Prius as it attempted to pass at around 11:45 p.m. The bullet struck the passenger-side front window, traveled across the center console and lodged into the driver’s seat, according to police.
The driver, Muhammad Popalzai, 47, said his family was driving from New Jersey to Washington, D.C., and saw a commercial truck ahead of them driving erratically, weaving in and out of lanes.
He said he was trying to get past the tractor-trailer when the shot was fired.
“The moment I cross, I hear a big bang,” he said.
At first he wasn’t sure what had happened.
“But then there was glass in my leg and my arm and I started bleeding,” he said.
His wife and their 2½-year-old daughter were riding in the back seat of the car, he said. No one in the car was struck by the bullet.
Jurors viewed dash camera footage from the Prius, which showed the car behind the semi in the leftmost lane. The truck, a Tag Trans Inc. tractor-trailer, then moved to the right lane and the Prius sped up to pass it. Just as the drivers were side-by-side, a loud sound could be heard on the video.
Afterwards, the Prius driver followed the truck as it traveled south on I-83 and then west onto the I-695 Beltway. Popalzai’s wife called 911 to report the incident and gave police the license plate number. On advice from the 911 operator, the Prius pulled over near exit 17 and waited for officers.
Just before noon the following day, MSP officers tracked down Ramos at a truck stop in Elkton in Cecil County. Inside the cab of the tractor, officers said they found a loaded .45-caliber handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. They also found spent cartridge casings in the truck’s dashboard and a cupholder.
Other spent casings were found in boxes in the cab.
Ramos’ defense attorney, C. Evan Rollins, pointed out that police did not retrieve anything from the car seat. An evidence technician said the bullet was so deeply embedded in the foam that retrieving it would have ruined the seat and made the car undriveable.
“Nobody ever got a projectile from the car,” Rollins said. “Nobody ever proved it was a bullet…that entered that window and went into the seat.”
Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Dominick said the hole in the window was obviously a bullet hole.
“I would argue that the photo of the damage alone shows this is a gunshot,” Dominick told Judge James Rhodes out of the presence of the jury. “If you ask 1,000 people…it’s a classic bullet hole in a window…You don’t need to be an expert to make that determination.”
Investigators at the time said they believed Ramos may also be linked to three additional shootings that occurred the same night along I-83 in Pennsylvania. No additional information about those shootings was available.
Ramos said Thursday he has elected not to testify, and the defense is not expected to put on any witnesses. Jurors are scheduled to hear closing arguments and begin deliberations Friday.