Man attacks car in Orange County road-rage incident captured on video

Jessica De Nova Image
Thursday, March 9, 2023
Man attacks car in OC road-rage incident captured on video
A man suspected of damaging a driver's vehicle in a road-rage incident captured on video was arrested in Garden Grove, police said.

ORANGE, Calif. (KABC) -- A man suspected of damaging a driver's vehicle in a road-rage incident in Orange earlier this week was arrested Wednesday, police said.

The road-rage incident was captured on video Tuesday afternoon. The victim, who identified himself as John, said the shaking seen in the recording from his dashcam, showed the strength of the beating his car took on the corner of Tustin Street and Chapman Avenue.

"He comes up and he's hollerin' and waving his arms," John said while recalling what the suspect did. "He punches the window; it didn't break. So then what he did is he stepped back and then kicked the car."

The video shows John driving backwards. He said he was trying to get the suspect's license plate.

The suspect runs over to John's car.

"As soon as he got up to my vehicle, he just starts yanking and just trying to break my rear view mirror off," John said.

The side view mirror was ripped off.

The suspect left behind blood splattered around the driver's rear view mirror. Before the arrest, police said Wednesday they were using that to help identify the suspect.

Detectives with the Orange Police Department said the registration to the vehicle the suspect was driving was tied to an address in south Orange County.

This appeared to be the same person seen in a second video out of the city of Santa Ana making rounds on social media. In that recording, the suspect stepped out of what looked like the same late 90s Ford Explorer Sport. He assaulted another driver, then jumped back in his SUV. He appeared to be holding a crow bar.

A Santa Ana Police Department spokesperson said as of Wednesday afternoon, they had not received any reports for that incident.

John was left with nearly $4,000 in repairs to his car. He's not quite sure what set off the suspect. He said he saw the suspect cut off another driver, there was a honk, John gestured and the rest was in the video.

"It's scary. You don't know what people are going through. You don't know what they're dealing with, and I guess all you can really do is just give them their space and don't be confrontational," John said.

John said his insurance company was trying to see whether the suspect vehicle was insured, and if they'll cover the damages, but they told him this might turn into a civil matter.

Orange police Wednesday evening confirmed the suspect was arrested in Garden Grove.