A Texas man is behind bars on suspicion of shooting at female drivers repeatedly over the past several months in Katy, a town west of Houston, local media has reported.
Harris County prosecutors believe the man, 29-year-old Nicholas D’Agostino, was acting out of hatred for women and female drivers, citing several hate-filled social media posts.
“He rants and rambles about female motorists and how incompetent they are, and how their sole purpose in life is to give birth to male children,” a Harris County prosecutor said in court late Thursday, local news outlet KHOU 11 reported.
The man faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon relating to a March incident. Just days before his arrest, he was released on $75,000 bail for a separate incident that occurred in July. Both involved female drivers.
On March 7, D’Agostino allegedly shot a woman who was turning out of a gas station onto a feeder road. The unnamed woman said she only heard a loud noise and felt a pain in her arm; it wasn’t until later that she realized she had been shot.
D’Agostino told local affiliate ABC 13 that his response was “self-defense,” alleging that the woman was swerving toward him, and did not apologize.
A July 10 incident was more serious. Another unnamed woman was driving to a car wash when D’Agostino allegedly shot her. The bullet from his .45-caliber handgun reportedly coming within millimeters of her heart.
When he was arrested for that incident on July 20, authorities say he confessed to five other instances of road-rage shooting, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. The March victim came forward after seeing reports of the arrest.
D’Agostino’s bail is now set at $250,000.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment Saturday.