Police: Road rage drivers tried to kill each other
March 25, 2010 - 11:25am
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1918912
Both drivers involved in a road rage duel on Interstate 95 during Tuesday afternoon's rush hour are being charged with trying to kill each other.
Virginia State Police Wednesday evening took dump truck driver James A. Bringham, 44, of Woodbridge, into custody. Police obtained a warrant against Bringham for attempted second-degree murder. Police previously
charged Bringham with reckless driving.
Already charged with attempted second-degree murder is Gabriel Poventud, 25, of Woodbridge. He's also charged with child endangerment, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting a missile into an occupied vehicle and reckless use of a firearm.
Police say Poventud -- who allegedly fired 13 rounds -- had his 2-year-old daughter in his Jaguar during the road rage incident on southbound I-95.
This happened after Bringham, the driver of a 2007 Ford F550 dump truck, tried to merge into the southbound lanes of I-95 from Route 123, shortly after 4 p.m.
Police say the drivers then "began engaging with one another in an aggressive manner."
The dump truck struck the Jaguar twice.
Both vehicles ended up on the left shoulder of the highway, pinned against the Jersey wall. That's when Poventud got out of his car and started firing at the truck, police say.
The dump truck pulled away into traffic, but was struck far more than four times by the 13 rounds. No one was hurt by the gunfire.
"In that kind of traffic, to have somebody shoot upwards of 13 rounds at a moving vehicle, the fact that nobody was struck, no houses, no vehicles is somewhat miraculous," says Virginia State Police Lt. Danny Glick.
As Poventud followed Bringham on the right shoulder, a trooper stopped both drivers.
Police say they have no reports of other drivers or vehicles being struck by the gunfire.
Police say drivers should avoid engaging with aggressive drivers.
I have a friend that knows the dump truck driver.
He shared what he knew about this to me.
The traffic on this part of I-95 sucks, bad. People are always cutting each other off, tailgating and not using turn signals.
Evidently the guy in the Jag was cutting people off and then wouldn't let the dump truck driver merge.
Words/gestures were exchanged. Then it escalated were the driver of the Jag brandished a firearm (with his 2 year old in the back seat).
The dump truck driver saw the weapon, and evidently in fear for his life bumped the guy in Jag, and called the state police.
The guy in the jag pursued the dump truck. The guy in the dump truck was instructed to stop, but did not as the guy in the jag was firing at him
and told them that on the phone. So it ends were he pins the guys car on a jersey wall.
The dump truck driver was originally charged with reckless driving but has been re-arrested and is now charged with attempted murder and awaiting a bond hearing (which he probably won't get).
I'd wager they are going to make an example of these two.
I'm not condoning this behavior at all, just sharing an event that is very close to home and how a few seconds of reacting to an idiot can screw up your life for the foreseeable future.
