Trinity Abeyta, 47, attends Jackson County Circuit Court on Jan. 18.

A Medford man made his initial appearance Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court following his arrest for allegedly ramming his truck into a woman’s jeep, causing her to drive off East Jackson Street and hit a tree.

Trinity Jose Abeyta, 47, appeared virtually before Judge Jeremy Markiewicz after the alleged road-rage incident Wednesday that sent the 32-year-old female and her 11-year-old daughter to a hospital.

Abeyta’s appearance was an arraignment on the information, the formal complaint the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office files initiating criminal charges against a defendant. A Jackson County Grand Jury will convene at a later time and if the panel indicts Abeya on the charges, he will return to court and enter his pleas.

Abeyta has a criminal history, including convictions for driving under the influence of intoxicants, criminal driving while suspended, and violating the basic speed rule, court records show.

Abeyta shook his head and rubbed his face as Markiewicz read the charges and set bail at $15,000. The judge cited his concern for public safety if Abeyta is released from the Jackson County Jail.

Abeyta told Markiewicz that, for now, he would like a court-appointed attorney to handle his case. An attorney was not listed in court records Thursday.

Police believe Abeyta was in his blue Dodge Ram with his two children, traveling westbound on Jackson Street and following the victim closely as she drove her Jeep Grand Cherokee in a school zone, according to an email from Medford police Sgt. Steve Furst, who investigated the incident.

Police determined that Abeyta was upset with the “slow speed” that the victim was traveling in the zone, which is 20 mph and near Hedrick Middle School. School had ended, and students were walking in the area at the time, Furst noted.

Abeyta and the victim stopped at a red light on East Jackson. When the light turned green, both drivers used their car horns and made “hand gestures” at each other, Furst wrote.

When Abeyta and the victim continued driving west on Jackson Street, Abeyta allegedly drove into the oncoming lane and accelerated, pulling alongside the victim’s jeep before striking the driver’s side and sending the jeep into a tree.

Abeyta lost control of his truck and careened into a commercial building. No one was inside when the crash occurred.

The victim and her daughter were transported to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center with minor injuries and released.

Abeyta, his son and daughter were uninjured.

Furst wrote in an email that Medford police “feel fortunate that no bystanders were injured.”

Abeyta was lodged in jail without bail Wednesday on four counts of reckless endangering; two counts of fourth-degree assault; and one count each of third-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, reckless driving and second-degree criminal mischief.

Gold Hill resident Chris Eddings, grandmother of one of the children in Abeyta’s car, attended Thursday’s arraignment. She said she was unsurprised by the not guilty pleas that were entered on Abeyta’s behalf, “because it’s Trinity.”

“He’s never guilty of anything,” Eddings said. 

The building Abeyta’s vehicle crashed into is shared by Southern Oregon OM and Windermere Van Vleet and Associates, which uses its portion as a training center.

Devin Zupan, co-owner of Windermere, said the Dodge Ram took out a chunk of a pillar, but other pillars were left intact. The truck itself punched a hole in the building’s wall, he said. 

“No personal property was damaged, but definitely structural damage,” Zupan said.

The building, leased by Henselman Realty & Management in Medford, will require more than $10,000 in repair work, according to Scott Henselman, the firm’s principal broker.

Considering the incident took place so close to a school and could have hurt more people, Zupan said the damage to the building is a minor setback.

“There were some prayers answered there, that no kids were hit,” Zupan said, “because, especially at the speed the truck was going, it could have been really bad.”