By David Eck
Enquirer contributor

SPRINGDALE - A Time-Warner Cable service technician escaped serious injury Thursday morning when a man shot out a window of his truck on Interstate 75.

Edward Johnson, 30, of Cincinnati, was not injured, Springdale police said.

Johnson was driving the cable truck east on I-275 about 10 a.m. when he tried to merge onto southbound Interstate 75.

"He noticed a car that was on the right side of him," Springdale Officer Fred Romano said. "The car wouldn't let him over. There was a male ... sitting in the driver's seat holding a handgun. The next thing (the cable technician) knew, the side window exploded."

The bullet went through the truck's passenger window, glanced off the windshield and become embedded in the dashboard, Romano said.

Johnson told police he did nothing to provoke the shooting and did not know the shooter, Romano said: "This guy just wouldn't let him over."

The black, mid-'80s, four-door Nissan continued south on I-75. The vehicle had a tinted license plate cover.

"(Johnson) is doing fine," said Jennifer Mooney, vice president for public affairs for Time-Warner Cable. "We're taking care of both his physical and (emotional) needs. It's fortunate that it turned out the way it did."

Time-Warner Cable is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the shooter. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Springdale Police at 346-5760 or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.

E-mail daveck@fuse.net