Two men have been arrested and charged after a road rage incident in Colorado Springs during which the driver of a Ford Mustang swerved into a motorcycle causing it to crash.
It happened on Monday night after an altercation between two young men, with the Mustang driver abandoning the scene. Another driver following from behind, Joel Hartzell, captured the incident on his dash-cam and shared the footage on YouTube where he wrote: “I guess the Mustang had cut off the biker’s girlfriend before this video started, she’s driving the white car that pulls up at the end.”
Police officers called to the hit-and-run scene learned about Hartzell’s video and were able to track down the Mustang driver, 21-year-old Brian Candelaria.
“In the video you can see an altercation between the driver of a motorcycle and the driver of a car,” police said, according to a report from The Denver Channel. “The driver of the car swerves into the motorcycle causing the motorcycle to crash.”
Hartzell told KOAA that he stopped to help the motorcyclist who then shared his side of the story.
“The Mustang ran the bikers girlfriend … almost ran her off the road and so he was mad about that and chased him down to I guess yell at him and punch his mirror or whatever else,” Hartzell said. “It was pretty ridiculous from both parties. I feel bad because I’m not trying to get people charged, but at the same time we can’t have that kind of activity on the roads.”
Police department spokesman Sgt. Joel Kern said the dash-cam footage was extremely helpful making them realize that there were actually two crimes committed.
“I think, obviously, it clarified the event, it clarified what happened,” Kern said. “Perhaps peoples stories were different and then obviously we have the unblinking eye of the camera there. Any time someone is trying to confront you like that, it’s best just to call the police. Don’t take matters into your own hands.”
Both men were arrested, with the Mustang driver, Brian Candelaria, facing a felony charge of Second Degree Assault, while the motorcycle rider Skyler Bradley, 22, was cited for harassment.