Man Accused Of Shooting Woman In Head In Bristol Twp.

A Bristol Township man was arrested recently on charges that he shot a person during a road-rage incident last year.

An arrest warrant was issued for Michael Nieves-Martinez, 25, of Bristol Township’s Croydon section, in late July and he was arrested and preliminarily arraigned this month on multiple charges, including aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, possession of an instrument of crime with intent, and endangering the welfare of a child. He came before on-call District Judge Terry Hughes, and he was released after posting 10 percent of $500,000 bail.

On March 6, 2022 at 8:57 p.m., Pennsylvania State Police were called to I-95 northbound in Bristol Township for a report that a woman had been shot in the head on the ramp to Veterans Highway (Route 413). A woman with a gunshot wound to the head was located by a black Nissan and transported to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital by Bensalem Emergency Medical Services, according to court papers.

As troopers were sorting out what happened, it was learned that a call came into the state police station in Bensalem Township a short time earlier from Nieves-Martinez, who reported he was being followed by dark-colored Nissan. He said his partner and her child were in the car, state police said.

Nieves-Martinez reportedly was emotional, told a trooper on the phone he “had an emergency,” and was involved in a road-rage incident. He also allegedly told a trooper on the phone that he saw people in another car “reaching,” leaving him in fear and reaching for his gun, state police said.

The trooper who spoke with Nieves-Martinez minutes before the shooting call was dispatched noted the man never mentioned shots were fired, state police said.

Bristol Township police and Bucks County Detectives reportedly went to Nieves-Martinez’s home on Newportville Road after the shooting and did not locate him there.

The driver of the black Nissan, which the shooting victim was traveling in, told investigators they were driving on I-95 when the driver of a silver Nissan became aggressive and threw a water bottle at their car, state police said.

After a few minutes, the black Nissan pulled next to the silver Nissan and rolled down both front windows to try to get a look at the driver of the other vehicle, state police said.

As the windows were down, the driver of the silver Nissan fired two to three gunshots, striking the female passenger, state police said.

The female passenger said the road-rage incident kicked off after the black Nissan accidentally cut off the silver Nissan, state police said.

The female passenger survived being shot.

A third passenger in the black Nissan reportedly told troopers they saw a man point a gun at them while on the highway and could see the gun being fired.

Due to Nieves-Martinez’s 9-1-1 call, he became the suspect in the case, according to court papers.

In the days after the shooting last March, troopers made contact with Nieves-Martinez at his Newportville home.

Search warrants were executed by investigators, who brought in additional troopers from around the region, state police said.

As part of the search warrant executions, troopers reported recovering a Springfield XDE 9mm handgun and a silver Nissan Versa, which appeared damaged from gunshots, and a child’s booster seat, state police said.

Lab testing from the gunshot residue kits used in Nieves-Martinez’s silver Nissan returned last fall and indicated a gun may have been discharged in the car around the time of the shooting, state police said.

It was not listed in court papers why it took more than a year for authorities to file charges.

Paul Lang is the attorney representing Nieves-Martinez and raised that issue in a statement to LevittownNow.com.

“No surprise – the government’s allegations only show half the story despite having over a year to investigate. Michael and I look forward to his exoneration,” he said.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.

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