Arrest in Drive-By Shooting from April

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office has charged two individuals in a drive-by shooting that occurred back in April in Seneca. Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jimmy Watt gives details. “According to warrants, 35-year-old Ronnie Joe Patterson, Jr. of Seneca has been charged with attempted murder, discharging a firearm into a dwelling, possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent felony, possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime, and discharging a firearm into a vehicle. Also arrested and charged over the weekend was 35-year-old Timothy Wayne Owens of Seneca.  He has been charged with accessory after the fact of a felony. According to warrants, Patterson reportedly discharged a firearm in a residence while driving a vehicle on April 21st of this year. The residence is located at 1123 Thatcher Road in Seneca. The attempted murder charge alleges that Patterson attempted to kill a victim at the Thatcher Road location by firing a firearm from the vehicle at the victim and striking him in the ear as the victim sat on the front porch of the home. A third warrant alleges that Patterson did carry a firearm and was not authorized to do so due to a conviction of the crime of assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct back on March 26th, 2012 and was in possession of the firearm when the weapon was discharged. The fourth warrant alleges that Patterson had in his possession a firearm used in the commission of a violent crime of attempted murder, as “the defendant shot several rounds at a house, car, and the victim” at the Thatcher Road location. The final warrant alleges that Patterson, while driving past the residence, discharged a firearm into a vehicle at the Thatcher Road location that was parked in front of the residence with an individual sitting inside the vehicle at that time. All of these incidents, once again, occurred on April 21st, 2013. Also according to warrants, Owens did “willfully and personally receive, relieve, comfort, and assist another knowing that the other person committed a felony.” Owens is accused of assisting Patterson in attempting to sell the firearm used in the shooting and attempted murder case on Thatcher Road. The incident reportedly occurred at the Spring Valley Road address between April 21st and April 30th.” Patterson is currently incarcerated in a facility in Allendale after his arrest in Oconee County back on June 4th on three outstanding warrants, including one for a sex offender registry violation. Owens was booked into the Oconee County Detention Center and released on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond.