By Diane Petryk
LIVERPOOLó Moral of this story: Don't approach anyone exhibiting road rage.
Jay Ravert, of Mifflinburg, made that mistake and it was, according to his wife, Ruth, "a miracle of God" that he only has a bullet hole in one cheek. The gun, he said, was pointed at his forehead.
Here's how he said it happened:
Shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, Ravert, 56, was in the rear seat of a Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by his nephew Andy Rothermel, 21. They were traveling on Route 104 toward the intersection with Routes 11-15.
Andy's wife, Jennifer Rothermel, 21, was also in the car.
They were just south of the Snyder-Perry County line in Liverpool Township, moving at about the speed limit, he said, when they noticed a Toyota Scion tailgaiting.
Ravert said the driver of the Scion then gunned it and passed them by crossing a double-yellow line. The driver tried, but couldn't get past three more cars that were ahead of them because of opposing traffic, so he swerved back into the lane directly in front of them.
"He then brake-checked us," Ravert said, repeatedly braking so they would have to do the same.
At the stop sign where Routes 11-15 crosses Route 104, the driver of the Scion, later identified by police as Christopher Michael Rapp, 36, of Shermans Dale, Perry County, got out of his car and faced Rothemel's vehicle, Ravert said.
"He tapped his chest and motioned to us to come out," Ravert said. "Andy said, 'Don't go.' I went anyway."
Rapp sat back down behind the wheel of his car, but left the door wide open, Ravert said.
"As I approached, I put my arm down on the door and in front of my face and said: 'What do you want?' " Ravert recalled.
Rapp had a gun and pointed it at his forehead, Ravert said. Then he pulled the trigger.
Ravert was shot with a .22-caliber bullet through the cheek. The bullet exited under his earlobe.
He was taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where he was treated and released.
"Doctors can't believe it didn't hit anything major," Mrs. Ravert said. "He was very lucky. Shaken ... but lucky."
The bullet hole, she said, was the size of the fingernail on a little finger.
At the time, Ravert went back to Rothermel in the car and did not realize he'd actually been shot.
"Andy said: 'No, he shot you for real. You're bleeding bad.' "
At the same time, Rapp turned his car around and said, as he passed them, "I'm sorry I shot him. Let's go up to the top of the hill and talk about it," according to Ravert.
Ravert said he wasn't about to do that.
Ravert and the Rothermels had obtained Rapp's license plate number. They called 911 after the shooting and so did another passing motorist. State police apprehended Rapp almost immediately. Trooper Cory Robenolt charged Rapp with criminal attempt homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, and reckless endangering.
Rapp was released from the Perry County Prison on Sunday on $20,000 bond.
"I should never have gotten out of the vehicle," Ravert said.
Trooper Matthew Burrows, a state police spokesman, seconded that.
"There's nothing to gain by confrontation and everything to lose," he said.
Sometimes driving a 1,000-pound vehicle makes us feel more powerful, he said, but that's an illusion.
"The best thing is to just stay in your car and keep going," Burrows said. "Nobody wins in road rage."ù
