A 70-year-old Downers Grove-area man is accused of shooting out the window of a car as a motorist who claimed to be stranded tried to flee, Darien police said Wednesday.

The man told police he “only wanted to scare” the driver, who said he ran out of gas and was waiting for a friend to help, Darien police said.

John C. Kavan was released from DuPage County Jail after posting 10 percent of $100,000 bail, according to the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office. He is charged with one felony count of reckless discharge of a firearm, law enforcement officials said.

Police say Kavan, of the 500 block of Redondo Drive near Downers Grove, pulled alongside the motorist, who appeared to be stranded near Greenbriar Lane and Bailey Road in Darien about 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 16, and asked if he needed help.

While the man said he ran out of gas, he was able to restart his car. He told Kavan he was waiting for friends to return with more gas, police said.

According to police reports, Kavan told him to leave and pointed a .38 caliber revolver at him. As the motorist  drove away, a shot from the handgun shattered the man’s rear driver’s-side window, police said.

The man drove to a nearby gas station and called police. He told police he believed his window was shot out with a air gun, but officers recovered bullet fragments from the vehicle, according to police.

Kavan turned himself in to Darien police on Feb. 17 and told police during questioning he only wanted to scare the man, police said. Kavan, who has a FOID card, turned the gun into police.

Deputy Chief John Cooper said a home in the 1300 block of Greenbriar Lane, close to where the shooting took place, was recently burglarized while residents slept. A 20-year-old Darien man who lives in the same block was arrested and charged with the burglary on Feb. 14, police said.

While Cooper said the two incidents are not connected, he said it is possible residents are on edge.