Road rage incident results in assault charges

Published 10:27 am Thursday, February 25, 2021

SALISBURY — The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a man who got away after a road rage incident on Tuesday involving a South Carolina couple.

An incident report states that a verbal argument and assault followed an incident where a car drove erratically and struck another on Interstate 85. The Sheriff’s Office has identified a suspect in the case and obtained warrants for simple assault, but an arrest hasn’t yet been made. The Sheriff’s Office hasn’t released the name of the suspect.

A woman told sheriff’s deputies a red Chevrolet Equinox drove erratically on I-85 north and struck a white Dodge truck that was also traveling north.

After the incident, the truck and car pulled over to the shoulder. The woman told sheriff’s deputies that she and her husband did the same because they witnessed the incident. The man driving the Equinox was “screaming and acting aggressive” when he got out of the car, an incident report states. The driver of the white Dodge truck drove off in his vehicle, leaving the Equinox driver and the couple from South Carolina.

An argument about the crash continued, with the South Carolina woman arguing with the Equinox driver, who pushed the woman’s husband into traffic. The husband fell on the ground and the Equinox driver got on top of the man and punched him, an incident report states.

The woman retrieved a pistol from her vehicle and pointed it at the Equinox driver, telling him to stop the first time and telling him a second time she would shoot him if he didn’t stop, an incident report states.

A Sheriff’s Office incident report said the victim received minor scrapes on his right elbow and back.