Investigators say the woman and her boyfriend were inside the car when gunfire struck the vehicle after a confrontation at a fast-food restaurant.
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Spartanburg police have arrested a man accused of firing several shots at his former girlfriend’s car and then ramming the vehicle during a late-night chase that began outside a Cookout restaurant and ended near W.O. Ezell Boulevard.
Authorities said Friday that the case grew out of a March 28 weapons call and now includes two attempted murder charges, along with weapons and breach-of-peace counts. The allegations place two people inside the targeted car, raising the stakes of what police describe as a violent encounter that unfolded on busy Spartanburg roads. The case remains active, and investigators have said more information could follow as they continue reviewing evidence and witness accounts.
Police said officers were called March 28 to investigate an incident involving weapons, but when they reached the scene, the confrontation itself had already happened earlier in the evening. Investigators later spoke with the woman who reported that she and her boyfriend had been at the Cookout on John B. White Sr. Boulevard at about 9:30 p.m. when her ex-boyfriend, identified by police as Derrick Jarrod Peake Jr., arrived and saw them together. According to the account summarized by officers, the couple left the parking lot to avoid contact. The woman told police that Peake followed their Chevrolet Malibu onto John B. White Sr. Boulevard and toward Blackstock Road, where the encounter escalated from shouting to gunfire.
The woman told investigators that as she drove on East Blackstock Road, Peake pulled up beside her in a burgundy Dodge Charger and yelled threats. Police said the woman reported that he then fired about three rounds at the Malibu, with one bullet striking the car near the rear wheel. Officers later observed damage consistent with that account, according to the report summarized by police. The woman also told officers that as she continued toward the intersection of East Blackstock Road and W.O. Ezell Boulevard, Peake intentionally hit the rear of her vehicle with his own car. Police have not said publicly whether either person inside the Malibu suffered physical injuries, and they have not released additional details about any firearm recovered, surveillance footage, or independent witnesses. Those unanswered points remain part of the ongoing investigation.
The case stands out because police said the shooting did not happen in isolation but grew out of a personal relationship and then unfolded on public roads with another passenger in the car. In the account released Friday, officers said the woman’s boyfriend was inside the Malibu during the incident, a detail that helps explain why investigators sought two attempted murder charges rather than one. Police also tied the event to several specific locations in Spartanburg, beginning at the Cookout on John B. White Sr. Boulevard and continuing along East Blackstock Road before ending near 1507 W.O. Ezell Boulevard. By laying out that route, investigators gave the public a clearer picture of how a private dispute allegedly turned into a broader public safety case. The allegation that the suspect both fired at the vehicle and later hit it with his car adds to the seriousness of the case outlined in the warrants.
Police said warrants were obtained charging Peake with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, and breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature. Those charges suggest prosecutors believe the conduct involved both a direct threat to the people in the car and a broader danger to the public. Officers said Peake was scheduled for a 2 p.m. bond hearing Thursday at the Spartanburg County Detention Center. Police did not release bond terms in the account made public Friday, and court outcomes were not included in the initial report. Investigators also said the case remains active, meaning charge counts, evidence disclosures, and court scheduling could still change as the matter moves forward through the criminal process.
Friday’s announcement was brief, but it sketched a tense scene that began with an unwanted encounter in a restaurant parking lot and, according to police, ended with gunfire and a collision on city streets. The woman’s statement to officers forms the backbone of the case described so far. In that account, the effort to leave before an argument could begin did not end the confrontation. Instead, police said, the suspect followed the couple and continued making threats before the violence escalated. That progression is likely to be central as prosecutors and defense attorneys examine intent, sequence, and witness credibility. For now, police have offered a straightforward public summary: a former boyfriend is accused of chasing, shooting at, and striking a car occupied by two people after seeing the woman with someone else.
The case remained under investigation Friday, with police signaling that more findings could emerge as detectives continue reviewing what happened and as the court process advances from the bond stage.
Author note: Last updated April 10, 2026.
Featured image prompt: Horizontal 1200×630 news photo illustration of a nighttime roadway in Spartanburg, South Carolina, near a fast-food parking lot and a city intersection, with police tape, flashing patrol lights reflecting off a damaged silver sedan showing a bullet strike near the rear wheel and rear-end collision damage, neutral broadcast-news style, no logos, no identifiable faces.