Stunt Man Injured : Trial Ordered in Shooting of Motorist

An 18-year-old transient charged with shooting a motorist at the height of last summer’s traffic-related shootings was ordered Wednesday to stand trial for attempted murder.

San Fernando Municipal Judge Paul I. Metzler ordered that Thomas Lee Robison be tried in the Aug. 1 shooting of Henry Kingi, estranged husband of actress Lindsay Wagner.

Kingi, 43, a stunt driver in such television series as “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “The A-Team,” was shot in the arm and chest at Ventura and Laurel Canyon boulevards in Studio City.

The incident occurred at the peak of the roadway violence that began in Southern California in mid-June. Sixteen of the more than 30 traffic-related shootings reported over the summer occurred the week Kingi was shot.

Kingi testified during Robison’s preliminary hearing that he and his 4-year-old son were driving east on Ventura Boulevard when a Jeep containing seven people cut in front of him and forced him into the center divider.

A few minutes later, the Jeep once again narrowly avoided hitting his car at Laurel Canyon Boulevard, where he had stopped for a red light, he said. Kingi then got out of the car and walked over to the Jeep, he said.

A man jumped out and began arguing with him, Kingi said. A second man then climbed out of the Jeep and pointed an automatic pistol at his temple, he said. The man slid the magazine of the gun into the chamber and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire, Kingi added. The man then kicked Kingi in the groin and pulled the trigger again. This time the gun fired, hitting Kingi in the arm and chest, he said.

The man then fled, and Kingi said he drove himself to the hospital, where he stayed for five days. His son was not injured.

The Jeep’s occupants were apprehended about 30 minutes later, Los Angeles Police Lt. Ron LaRue said. The Jeep’s occupants identified Robison as the person who had fired at Kingi, according to police. Robison had apparently escaped on foot, LaRue said.

Robison was arrested Sept. 14. No charges were brought against the others in the Jeep.

If Robison is convicted of attempted murder, he faces a maximum of 14 years in state prison. He is being held in Men’s Central Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. He is to be arraigned Dec. 16 in Superior Court.