3 men charged in shooting at Southwest Side gas station

Three men are facing felony charges after police said they were involved in a shooting incident at a Southwest Side gas station where a man suffered a head injury on April 24.

Chad A. Miller, 23, and Richard T. Miller, 21, both of Fitchburg, and Rakim F. Bass, 23, of Madison, were each charged with first degree recklessly endangering safety in a Dane County courtroom Monday. Bass also was charged with obstructing an officer. Chad Miller and Bass, both of whom are felons, were released from jail after posting bail of $10,000 and $5,000 respectively. Richard Miller was released on a $500 signature bond.

The alleged incident was the first of eight similar incidents to occur in the city over four-plus hours on April 24 and 25. Madison Police Chief Mike Koval was so alarmed by the night of gun-violence — “the likes of which I have not seen in my (33 years) as a police officer here,” he said — that he called a news conference two days later to bring attention to it.

According to a criminal complaint:

The victim told a Madison police officer he was injured in the back of the head by a bullet fragment or glass shattering after gunfire struck his vehicle as he was putting gas into it at the BP gas station, 4501 Verona Road, sometime after 8 p.m. The victim said the shooting occurred after he was confronted by the three defendants, all of whom were associated with “this girl I was messing with.” He also told police that “the dude that don’t like me had a big shotgun or something.”

Chad Miller was in one vehicle and Bass and Richard Miller were in a second vehicle, according to the victim. He told police that Bass and Richard Miller were at an adjacent pump initially when Miller told him, “you got lucky, I’m giving you a pass.”

At that point, the victim noticed that Miller took what appeared to be a sawed-off shotgun from Bass, who got out of the car and began hitting the victim’s car while yelling at him. Then, Chad Miller pulled up and began shooting at him, the victim said, although he said he didn’t see the firearm.

The victim said he got into his car and drove to the Madison Police Department’s South District headquarters, 825 Hughes Place, to report the incident.

The victim later recognized all three defendants after he was shown their mugshots from previous arrests.

Bass was arrested on May 4 by Madison police SWAT personnel after he fled a vehicle that had been stopped on Verona Road by an unmarked Madison police squad car.