Family Member Was a Road Rage Victim

TWtommers

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I've been sort of sitting on this for a couple of weeks because the string was still untangling but its seems there's some resolution in the case now so I wanted to vent a bit.

I have an uncle out in AZ. He's not blood and has been divorced from my aunt for decades but he's a good guy and my cousins' dad. We keep tabs on each other the way long distance relatives of this type do.

Last week I get a call telling me that George (my uncle) was a victim in a road rage incident and was in the ICU. As it turns out, he wouldn't let someone merge into traffic with him. That guy caught up to him at a red light, approached his car, reached into the car, punched him, and dragged him out of the car. Then, he left him there for dead and took off with the girl who was in the car with him.

George is going to be okay. He'll make a full recovery. In a weirdly fortunate way, he had a brain bleed. I say fortunate both because he needed no treatment for it and because it bumped this misdemeanor up to a felony. LE went full bore to find the guy.

As it turns out, the guy had a twinge of guilt and called 911 minutes later to check on the welfare of the victim. Unfortunately for him, he did so as he was walking into a Circle K with a camera. They plastered his picture on TV and his boss turned him in. The s*#tbag had shaved his beard and close cut his hair to change his appearance.

He is 26 years old. George is 72.

So, I'm pissed at the brave, brave 26 year old who beat up an old man over traffic BS but, frankly, I'm pissed at George too. This my family doesn't want to hear so I'm venting here. George is a retired cop. He should know better than to get involved in an altercation like this. Why the hell did he roll his window down for this guy? I hope to God it wasn't because he was instigating but even if it was to calm the guy down it was stupid.

Remember guys, nothing in traffic is worth beating anyone over or taking a beating for. Let the a-holes get in front of you where you can see them an avoid them. Thanks for reading. The links below are the news stories on this if you're interested.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/road-rage-beating-sends-elderly-man-to-icu-4-11-2011
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/road-rage-victim-speaks-out-on-vicious-beating-4-12-2011
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/man-wanted-for-questioning-in-road-rage-beating-4-13-2011
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/man-arrested-in-vicious-road-rage-assault-4-14-2011
 
Don't blame you ex-uncle ( or whatever the propper term is) - not everyone is on aleert 100%, and when in traffic, you're paring attention to the cars.

Sounds like the agressor sucker-punched him, and that was that.

best wishes to your uncle...and I hope that the 26-yo gets justice.
 
Glad he's going to be ok.

This was one thing that really stuck out and when I took the Goal, "Art of the Concealed Carry" class, to defuse the situation. I don't care what someone random jerk thinks of me if I'm walking away unhurt. Even if I know I'm right, I will apologize and be on my way. Just get out of the situation.
 
Jeez... Just give the guy who cut you off the finger and forget about it.
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Instead, he seriously injures someone and ruins his own life over essentially nothing. Idiot.
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Hope your uncle recovers fully.
 
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Jesus Christ.

I can't tell you how many times I used to play 'road games' with idiot drivers - you know, flipping them off when they tailgate or high beam or start cursing for whatever slight imagined. I stoppe doing this - its stupid, you never know whose going to get out of the car and start a fight, or worse, pull a gun.

Beating on a 72 year old? Yeah, way classy. Here's hoping he meets someone in the Pen who loves his grandfather.
 
Thanks for all the support guys. I appreciate it. This is a low level thing in the grand scheme of things since George will recover fully but its definitely been a big deal in the family.

Don't blame you ex-uncle ( or whatever the propper term is) - not everyone is on aleert 100%, and when in traffic, you're paring attention to the cars.

Sounds like the agressor sucker-punched him, and that was that.

You bring up a good point. I don't know that George even recognized that he didn't let this guy in. I drive pretty alert to those around me most of the time. Since I started carrying I'm much more mellow about my driving and don't do things like not letting people into traffic or cutting folks off. Its just not worth the frustration or the possibility of altercation. I'm still getting where I need to be within seconds difference either way.

Glad he's going to be ok.

This was one thing that really stuck out and when I took the Goal, "Art of the Concealed Carry" class, to defuse the situation. I don't care what someone random jerk thinks of me if I'm walking away unhurt. Even if I know I'm right, I will apologize and be on my way. Just get out of the situation.

damn. That'll make me think twice about instigating sh*t on the highway with Ma**h***s.

This sums up my philosophy now. Drive chill. I don't need to start crap and I don't want to finish anyone else's crap.
 
Hope this punk gets nailed with a prison sentence. Let's see how tough he is out there in the AZ prison system.

If this happened in Mass, he would only get a mere slap on the wrist...
 
I've taught my kids to always leave a car length between them and the vehicle in front when at stop lights. That way you have at least a chance of maneuvering and getting the hell out of there. People go bat sh!t crazy in cars. I always yield and if I flip the bird my hand is below the window line of site. I hope they put that bad man away for a good long time.
 
I make a habit of driving with the doors locked and a can of OC in between the seats because of a**h***s like this (and because of dirty hippies)
 
Glad he's okay with no long term injury.


Wow, it will be interesting to see what kind of prison sentence this animal gets.

Sorry to hear about this. I hope that dirtbag gets what he deserves in the state pen. AZ doesn't mess around.

Don't blame you ex-uncle ( or whatever the propper term is) - not everyone is on aleert 100%, and when in traffic, you're paring attention to the cars.

Sounds like the agressor sucker-punched him, and that was that.

best wishes to your uncle...and I hope that the 26-yo gets justice.

Hope this punk gets nailed with a prison sentence. Let's see how tough he is out there in the AZ prison system.

If this happened in Mass, he would only get a mere slap on the wrist...

The good news... at least it looks like he'll be one of Joe Arpaio's guests... [smile]

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http://www.mcso.org/index.php?a=GetModule&mn=Mugshot
 
you also don't want to be on the recieving end of someone having a bad day - when I was an EMT, we didnt see a lot of road rage per se -except one incident that sticks out in my mind - homeboy used hisF150 as a battering ram on a car that stayed too long at the light - he backed up, floored it, repeated til the engne gave out.

I treated the guy who was struck - mostly flexion injuries with some bruising on the shoulder from the seatbelt. When they finally caught up with the guy - who made a dash to the woods - he said he was having a bad day because he lost custody of his kids.

Gee, I wonder why.
 
I've taught my kids to always leave a car length between them and the vehicle in front when at stop lights. That way you have at least a chance of maneuvering and getting the hell out of there. People go bat sh!t crazy in cars. I always yield and if I flip the bird my hand is below the window line of site. I hope they put that bad man away for a good long time.

I always make sure I can see the bottom of the rear tires of the car in front of me at a stop light so that I can get away if needed. My understanding of this particular incident is that the perpendicular traffic was so heavy this would not have been of help. He was pretty stuck as far as the car's concerned.
 
Sorry to hear about your uncle and I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.


I've taught my kids to always leave a car length between them and the vehicle in front when at stop lights. That way you have at least a chance of maneuvering and getting the hell out of there. People go bat sh!t crazy in cars. I always yield and if I flip the bird my hand is below the window line of site. I hope they put that bad man away for a good long time.

Leaving your vehicle a way to exit is excellent advice. Not just at a traffic light but in any line of cars. I do the same thing.
 
Sorry about your uncle. All the best.

When I was about 7, my mom made some guy pull over for cutting her off and driving like an ass...Dumbest thing I think she's ever done. It ended alright, just alot of yelling and her telling the guy his member was about an inch long. Makes for a good laugh now...But man was that dumb of her.
 
That sucks. I'm glad your Uncle will be OK.

RR seems to be the thing in AZ these days. Didn't we just see another incident where some guy walks up in a similar situation, this time with a gun in hand, and gets popped by the armed driver for it?
 
Agreed. Once somebody crosses the threshold, and tries to provoke a confrontation, there is nothing that can be said to diffuse them. They are right and you are wrong, and they won't hear anything to the contrary. The best bet is to disengage. If they won't let it go, then proceed at your own discretion.
 
Sorry to hear about that, but don't put any blame on your uncle. One (seemingly) harmless action can result in a situation like that.

I was once involved in a bad road rage incident. Traveling on 140S in Taunton, approaching the Target/Home Depot, a Ford Bronco attempts to pass me in the breakdown lane. I move over a little to block him, and that's where everything started. He passes me by violating the double yellow, I stop. He stops, backs up, and approaches my car. I safely drive by him and his truck, and he follows me.

I take a bunch of back roads I know, trying to get to the closest police station that I know of (Raynham). As we're a few miles out, he passes me again on a small road, parks in the middle, and I pull into a dirt lot to try to get away. He gets out, approaches my car, and I remained there as I didn't want to run him over. He starts yelling at me, punches the window (left it closed, doors locked), then leaves after yelling again.

The best part is his reason for being pissed at me. People like me are "responsible for the death of his nephew". All I did was block his illegal pass. While he was telling me that, he left his toddler in the truck parked in the middle of the road (awesome dad). Police showed up, nothing can be proven so no charges, but the cop told me where he lived (my now-wife and I both memorized his plate). Of course I did nothing to return his nice behavior, not worth ruining my life.

Maybe your uncle followed my "rule" on merging, one car from left, one from right. Maybe Erik wanted to break that rule.
 
Sorry to hear about that, but don't put any blame on your uncle. One (seemingly) harmless action can result in a situation like that.

I was once involved in a bad road rage incident. Traveling on 140S in Taunton, approaching the Target/Home Depot, a Ford Bronco attempts to pass me in the breakdown lane. I move over a little to block him, and that's where everything started. He passes me by violating the double yellow, I stop. He stops, backs up, and approaches my car. I safely drive by him and his truck, and he follows me.

I take a bunch of back roads I know, trying to get to the closest police station that I know of (Raynham). As we're a few miles out, he passes me again on a small road, parks in the middle, and I pull into a dirt lot to try to get away. He gets out, approaches my car, and I remained there as I didn't want to run him over. He starts yelling at me, punches the window (left it closed, doors locked), then leaves after yelling again.

The best part is his reason for being pissed at me. People like me are "responsible for the death of his nephew". All I did was block his illegal pass. While he was telling me that, he left his toddler in the truck parked in the middle of the road (awesome dad). Police showed up, nothing can be proven so no charges, but the cop told me where he lived (my now-wife and I both memorized his plate). Of course I did nothing to return his nice behavior, not worth ruining my life.

Maybe your uncle followed my "rule" on merging, one car from left, one from right. Maybe Erik wanted to break that rule.

Thanks for sharing that and I'm glad it worked out safely in the end for you. Although I usually follow the "rule" of a zipper merge, if someone is self important enough to want to race in front of me they can have it. Life's to short to give a crap about being 16 feet in front of someone. No one appointed me "keeper of the merge rule" or any other traffic rule. To tell the truth, driving is a whole lot more pleasant since I've adopted that attitude. When you let folks who don't play by the rules piss you off, you spend a lot of time pissed off. [wink]
 
I'm glad your uncle is good at this point. Where was his gun? It was AZ afterall.

I had a little mishap like that when I was younger and dumber. Guy came up to my car with a stick. I got out with a bigger, heavier, metal stick, he walked away and drove off. Only way to deal with these a-holes is either avoid/evade or call their bluff and be able to.

I think Mr. Frickes should have learned that lesson earlier this week, also in AZ.
 
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