NORTH PLAINFIELD BOROUGH, NJ (Somerset County) – A Somerset County woman is facing an attempted murder charge after an alleged road rage shooting in North Plainfield Borough last month, according to Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald.
Prosecutor McDonald stated that on Sunday, February 2, at around 9:06 p.m. officers responded to a 9-1-1 call of a vehicle being struck by gunfire during a road rage incident, McDonald said.
Upon arrival, officers met with the victim, a North Plainfield resident, who reported that while driving eastbound on North Avenue and Madison Avenue in Dunellen at around 8:45 p.m., a dark colored Mercedes-Benz attempted to merge into the victim’s lane of travel, eventually passing the victim and another vehicle from the right shoulder of the road, McDonald said.
The Mercedes-Benz then got behind the victim’s vehicle and began to follow it for approximately fifteen minutes into North Plainfield. While travelling west on Route 22 in North Plainfield, the victim reported that the Mercedes-Benz pulled up alongside the vehicle and fired multiple rounds shattering the victim’s front driver side window, the front passenger side window, perforating the fuel cap on the driver’s side and shattering the rear passenger side window before fleeing the area. The victim reported being unharmed from the incident, McDonald said.
An investigation was conducted by detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and Crime Scene Investigation Unit along with detectives from the North Plainfield Police Department. As a result of this investigation, detectives were able to identify Juliette A. Piscopo, 26, of Greenbrook as the driver of the Mercedes-Benz, McDonald said.
Piscopo was charged with first-degree attempted murder, second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun. On Wednesday, March 12, Piscopo turned herself in to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office and was subsequently lodged in the Somerset County Jail pending a detention hearing, McDonald said.
