We’ve shown you our fair share of road-rage incidents, most of which involve at least some drama in the form of verbal abuse or in rarer cases, a physical fist fight.
However, every once in a while, these episodes can escalate into something far more ugly and dangerous not only for those directly involved, but also for other drivers as it happened in Fall River, Massachusetts, this past Sunday.
According to the incident report, truck driver Luis Cotto said that in the early morning hours of Sunday, a black four-door Infiniti cut him off and then slowed down in front of him.
The 42-year-old truck driver said that he responded by flashingt his high beams, a move that aggravated the occupants of the Infiniti, and soon enough, both vehicles stopped on the side of the road.
“I got out of my truck and told him to move the car. Next thing I know, someone hit me from behind,” Cotto told the Boston Channel.
Cotto then stumbled back to his truck to drive away but seconds later said one of the passengers in the Infiniti shot at the vehicle four times, allegedly causing the tank to explode.
“I see this guy with a gun, I don’t know what kind of gun. I saw a flash and something hit my windshield. I ducked down, then I heard a big bang,” Cotto said.
Cotto lost control of the truck, which then hit the guardrail and veered to the left before crashing into a steel support igniting another fire on a wooden scaffold that was attached to it for construction work.
The man managed to get out of the burning truck but almost immediately collapsed down to the ground. Luckily, Trooper Allyson Powell was on site and was able to drag him 180 feet to a safe distance from the flames and the thick smoke. The truck driver was taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The state police issued a statement saying that it is still investigating the incident. “We are aware that the victim of the crash has made statements to local media about alleged events that he said occurred prior to the crash,” said State Police spokesman David Procopio. “At this time, we are not commenting on those statements,” he added.
A big thanks to our Boston tipster Maria!
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