Dieseljocky
Inactive
Hello all. This is my first post here. New member. Just looking for some thoughts and advice.
While driving back to my office today, a driver almost ran into the back of my car on the interstate when he suddenly and aggresively changed lanes to take the same exit ramp as me.
I lifted a hand in a simple gesture of, "what are you doing?" while looking at him in the rear-view mirror. He immediately began to flip me off with both fingers while continuing to tailgate me down the exit ramp.
When the ramp split into two lanes (one for right turn, and one for left, at the light), he got in the left lane and aggressively waved a semi-auto pistol at me and began gesturing aggressively with the gun. He did not point the gun directly at me, but gave me a side-view with the gun pointed up to the roof of his car. His finger was on the trigger.
I immediately grabbed my cell phone out of my dash mount, and when he saw this, floored it to get away, but traffic ahead slowed him down and I was able to get his plate. He turned left and I turned right. I immediately called 911, and police units were dispatched to speak with me and also to find him.
When the officers spoke with him he claimed he only showed me fingers in the shape of a gun, never an actual weapon. I am former military, and know a weapon when I see one. The only fingers were firmly around the handgun. He also did not have the weapon on his person by the time the police found him, which is convenient for him.
The officer gave me his information and I have the option of going to the local magistrate and swearing out an arrest warrant against him. Apparently, this is not his first episode of this behavior.
So my dilemma at this point is whether or not to press charges. A part of me, the larger part, wants to, since he does not seem to have sufficient control of himself to carry a weapon, and I worry about the safety of other folks he may encounter in the future. The other part of me wonders if it is worth it to pursue criminal charges since it is his word against mine. Obviously, I would not have gone to the police had he only showed me fingers. I would have chalked it up to another idiot on the road, but this guy is a special idiot - and the potentially dangerous type.
Any thoughts? This is new territory for me.
Thank you!
While driving back to my office today, a driver almost ran into the back of my car on the interstate when he suddenly and aggresively changed lanes to take the same exit ramp as me.
I lifted a hand in a simple gesture of, "what are you doing?" while looking at him in the rear-view mirror. He immediately began to flip me off with both fingers while continuing to tailgate me down the exit ramp.
When the ramp split into two lanes (one for right turn, and one for left, at the light), he got in the left lane and aggressively waved a semi-auto pistol at me and began gesturing aggressively with the gun. He did not point the gun directly at me, but gave me a side-view with the gun pointed up to the roof of his car. His finger was on the trigger.
I immediately grabbed my cell phone out of my dash mount, and when he saw this, floored it to get away, but traffic ahead slowed him down and I was able to get his plate. He turned left and I turned right. I immediately called 911, and police units were dispatched to speak with me and also to find him.
When the officers spoke with him he claimed he only showed me fingers in the shape of a gun, never an actual weapon. I am former military, and know a weapon when I see one. The only fingers were firmly around the handgun. He also did not have the weapon on his person by the time the police found him, which is convenient for him.
The officer gave me his information and I have the option of going to the local magistrate and swearing out an arrest warrant against him. Apparently, this is not his first episode of this behavior.
So my dilemma at this point is whether or not to press charges. A part of me, the larger part, wants to, since he does not seem to have sufficient control of himself to carry a weapon, and I worry about the safety of other folks he may encounter in the future. The other part of me wonders if it is worth it to pursue criminal charges since it is his word against mine. Obviously, I would not have gone to the police had he only showed me fingers. I would have chalked it up to another idiot on the road, but this guy is a special idiot - and the potentially dangerous type.
Any thoughts? This is new territory for me.
Thank you!