Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Road Rage Incident Sparks Investigation
An apparent road rage incident last week lead to both drivers involved filing complaints with law enforcement officers.
The incident was reported to officers with the Lawrenceburg Police Department shortly after 9:00 p.m. Thursday.
An officer reports he was approached at police headquarters by a man who wished to file a complaint. He reported that when he and his family pulled onto North Locust Avenue a few minutes before, the driver of a Dodge truck “squalled tires” as he darted around him, then took off at a high rate of speed.
The man said that while both were stopped at the next traffic signal, he had “clapped at the driver and congratulated him on his stupidity.” He said that the driver of the truck subsequently began to yell obscenities at him. The driver reportedly drove beside his vehicle “swerving at him in a perceived attempt to hit him or run him off the road.”
During the ruckus, the man told officers that a lit cigarette butt was thrown from the truck and landed in the floorboard behind the driver’s seat. The butt reportedly burned a small spot in the carpet, resulting in damages of around $700. He handed over the cigarette butt, a Marlboro brand with a gold band.
The man was able to obtain a license plate number, then headed for the police station to file a complaint.
When he checked with Central Dispatch, the officer learned that the driver of the truck had telephoned regarding the same incident.
The driver of the truck told the officer he “may have unintentionally squalled his tires while accelerating” when he passed the car. He indicated that the other driver then began to follow him, often too closely to his bumper.
When they stopped at the traffic signal, the truck driver said the man began yelling obscenities at him, and that he had called 911 when he saw the man reach into his pocket for what he believed might have been a weapon (but was actually a cell phone).
Both the truck driver and his passenger said that they were unaware whether a cigarette butt might have been thrown out, but said that neither threw a butt at the car. The officer noted that one of the pair was smoking the same type of cigarette.
No charges were placed at the time reports were filed. Both men were advised about how to pursue legal action.
