AUBURN — A self-described “gang-banger” who told police he shot at a motorist from a rival gang who “disrespected” him denied related charges, including attempted murder, on Wednesday.

Jauston Sanders, 24, of 195 Lincoln St., Lewiston, pleaded not guilty to three related felonies at his arraignment in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

In addition to attempted murder, he was charged with attempted elevated aggravated assault and reckless conduct with a firearm in the Nov. 4, 2016, incident in Lewiston.

Sanders also denied at Wednesday’s hearing two felony drug charges.

He continues to be held at Androscoggin County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail.

An Androscoggin County grand jury indicted Sanders last week on charges of attempted murder, a Class A crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison. The other two related felonies carry maximum penalties of 10 years and five years in prison, respectively.

The grand jury also indicted Sanders on drug charges related to an incident three days after the alleged shooting.

The drug trafficking charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison; the other, a possession charge, carries a maximum sentence of five years.

A July trial is scheduled for the shooting-related charges. A May trial is expected for the drug charges.

Sanders had told police that he believed he would be shot at, so he pulled a pistol and fired shots at the driver of a black Chevrolet Impala on Sabattus Street on the morning of Nov. 4, 2016, according to a police affidavit in court records.

Witnesses told police that the Impala sped off as the shots were fired. The shooter continued to walk up to the corner of Sabattus and Howe streets, paused, then continued up Howe Street, police said.

The driver of the car said he had stopped for the traffic light when he looked up and saw somebody that he knew from “the streets” approaching his car and yelling something as he pulled out a pistol, police said. The man on foot fired shots through the windshield of the car, which turned into the oncoming lane of traffic and sped off as the shots continued.

The driver told police he had gotten into an altercation earlier with a man who had “boys,” including Sanders, whose street name was JDogg.

The Impala had four bullet holes on the passenger side and one through the windshield, police said. The bullet through the windshield lodged near the headrest and would have just missed the driver’s head. Police recovered six shell casings from a .40-caliber gun where the shooting was reported, according to the affidavit.

Police said the two men were connected to rival groups, one from New York, the other from Massachusetts.

According to the police affidavit, Sanders described himself as a “gang-banger” and a member of the Bloods. He said he believed the driver had “disrespected him” and had followed him around.

Sanders told police he fired at the driver because he thought the driver was going to pull a gun on him.

In a separate affidavit, police wrote that on Nov. 7, 2016, Sanders’ girlfriend consented to a search her apartment where police found a bag of 76 oxycodone pills under a pair of shorts in a closet. She denied knowledge of the pills.

Sanders told a detective that the pills belonged to him and that he planned to sell them.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

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