Filing charges for road rage?

Question

Yesterday night (Sunday August 24, 2008) at 9:49 pm while coming from a friends' house I noticed this guy who started putting his middle finger up and started to race against my car. I had my two kids (age 11 and 7) in the back car and my wife in the passenger side.

I ignored him for a few miles but I noticed that this guy was trying to maintain the same speed as me. I changed lane to exit from the highway and so did the guy. Then I realized that the guy went to the right hand lane (very close to my car side by side) middle finger up and started to jam his car against mine. I accelerated and went past him and tried to exit the highway but he accelerated past me and was ahead of me. I tried to go back to the highway but the guy stopped and and tried to came to the highway as well. Finally I thought that I would better exit the highway and go to the nearby street in order to find more people on the street.

Then I asked my wife to note the vehicle number and asked her to call 911. The kids were very scared they started to scream and so did my wife. I existed the highway and went to the right hand lane and parked on the curb to let the guy go. Then I realized that the guy also stopped and he started to reverse his truck (he had a Chevy truck and high tier).

We were so scared of this guy and we accelerated past him and tried to turn on one of the highways. While turning out speed was so high that we skidded and our car rotated a number of times. The guy came by the side and then he passed us and we reversed our car and followed him. But we took the side street and went to the close by shopping mall/eatery. On our way, we found one local police driving by , we stopped our car, got out of the car and started to tell this police the incident we had encountered earlier. In a minute or so later, this guy shows up again and I identified the person the cops stopped this guy. Since the incident occurred in the highway, the state trooper also came after some time and we filed a complaint against him.

The guy was under the influence and he could not walk on a straight line. The cops hand-cuffed the guy and took him away. The state trooper asked us to file a complaint against the guy under reckless driving.

All of my family is so scared because of this incident. I am trying to be brave and attempting to calm the family down. But inside I am very tense, nervous and very scared. The officer told us that we could file a complaint, however our name and address would be released to the person. The guy would be charged for DUI and reckless driving (if I decide to go ahead with the charges). However, all our family is so scared that he might come at any time to kill us if we release our identify and address to him. So I am thinking of not filing charges against him.

I know it is not the right thing for the community, however for my immediate family's sake I am not filing the charges. Just wondering if I would have other options (such that the person would not know my identify and not be able to get back to us). These days it is so easy to find the address of the person using search engines like zabasearch.

Being only a few years in the country, I am wondering if this type of incident regularly happens in the US? and are there any incidents of the charged person coming back to the person (who filed the charge) and destroyed his family? We are so tensed and nervous. Please suggest what we should be doing and what are our legal assistance if

we decide to file the charges? Any help would be highly appreciated.

God is great. Today this spared our life! Thank God!

Answer 1

I would file the charges and and explain your anxieties to the judge. Then I would buy a handgun and keep it with me at all times, that person had no right to do that and he is trying to intimidate you into not filing charges. This country was founded on pricaples that all men are created equal. I know you are may be frightened, but if we dont stand up to people like this we allow it to continue. And to answer your question, this kinda of behavior has become more common in the last few years but its because our society has allowed it to happened. I hope you dont think all Americans are like this. Do the right thing. God Bless you

Answer 2

It happens a lot and yes you should file charges against the other driver.......

Answer 3

I think you have at the very least assault and attempted murder here. And if you are just new to this country, you could be a victim of racial hatred which could bring additional charges.

You need to file assault with a deadly weapon (the truck) and make sure that this country is rid of one more #*^%.

See a lawyer immediately.

Answer 4

I would copy n paste your statement/question here and take it to the police and to the district attorney's office in your town/city.

Charges: Attempted assault, road rage, intimidation, reckless endangerment.

See if you can find witnesses or check with the highway dept. or any place where this incident took place and see if there are any video recordings of the event.

Unfortunately, with a country as big as ours with all the different people, lifestyles and cultures along with our sometimes (un)justice system, there are too many peolpe who should not be behind the wheel under any circumstances - no matter where you live.

I believe that your circumstance is an exceptioin rather than a rule. Prosecute this snake, then put this behind you.

Take care of yourself and your family. All the best.

Answer 5

Apparently, there are two charges against the man : Reckless driving and Driving under influence. For the first charge you are the only witnesses and hence you have to appear before a Judge. Naturally, your identity will not remain confidential. But for the second charge, the police should be able to lodge a proper complaint and your involvement is not necessary. I am not conversant with of US laws, but that's how I see the incident.

I also appreciate your concern. On one side you are feeling as if you have not done your duty towards the society while, on the other side, you are apprehensive about the safety of your family. I assure you, Sir, that I would not have lodged any complaint under similar circumstances. My family's safety comes first, because that is my primary duty.  

Answer 6

Talk to the District Attorney and see if they are willing to add more charges if you are willing to testify in court. You could also write a letter to the judge stating what you said above that would be taken into consideration when he is sentenced. I would think the letter would be a better option and then put this all behind you.  

Answer 7

You should really press charges, letting someone get away with something like that is wrong. Especially because he was DUI.

If you really feel threatened, get a security system installed in your home, and buy a gun.

Answer 8

actually that is not completely right (EDIT-nevermind, I see your additional details and you realize this point). if he was under the influence the STATE will charge him with that crime and it has nothing to do with you and you will not even have to go to court. The police act as witneses in those cases and your name ill not be brought up. As for the reckless driving charge, the officer must have been talking about that charge alone, about you being involved. So if he got a DUI that will charged against him no matter what and hopefully he will be severely punished for it.

I understand you wanting to protect your family, but at the same time, you can't really live your life in fear like that. There will always be somethng or somone there to threaten you and the more you let it go the more it will eaft at your soul. Since he will be charged with DUI, in this case, it it may not be absolutely necessary to press additional charges, but it would certainly increase this guys chances of seeing real jail time, because you can get a lawyer and add probably 3 or 4 more charges to the list among them reckless endangerment, menacing, delivering threats, and probably a few more. I would seriously think about doing it because if he sees no jail time, you may see him again on the streets tomorrow.

However, in all likeliness, he was drunk and probably doesn't even remember who you are or why he got put in jail. And I am sure he will not have the smarts or the ambition to go look up court records and find your address and do anything.

But if he does, and here is the beautiful part about our country, you can buy a gun, preferably a shotgun, and protect yourself and your family. Shotguns have wide ranges so it is hard to miss at close or medium range. Our country has wonderful self defense laws. You can meet him with equal or enough force to stop him from however he threatens you.  But just remember, you can only use enough force to stop the threat.

Whatever you decide to do, just make a decision that you can live with, where you will have respect for yourself, your family and your community without having to live in fear. It may be a foreign idea to you being from another country, but here you have the right to defend yourself with reasonable means until the threat has abated. And your wife will give you serious, wild,  awesome s*x from now until the end of time if you defend her or your kids from harm like that.

EDIT- don't think that because i suggest buying a gun that your first response is shooting someone, it certainly is not. In order for it to be self defense, you can only use enough force to stop the threat with as little damage as possible to the other person doing the threatening.  If you shoot someone who was not presenting a deadly threat to you, that is murder! I am not a lawyer, nor a police officer, so you must look up the laws where you live and find the specific self defense laws that apply in your community. Good luck!