Enraged driver smashes into 4 vehicles in wild video; LAPD charges him with assault
"I have never seen so much aggression," said a store owner whose surveillance cameras captured the crash.
WOODLAND HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A driver aggressively slammed his Ford Mustang into several other nearby vehicles in what appeared to be a massive road rage incident - and it was all caught on video.
It happened around 2 p.m. on Wednesday along Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills, near the 101 overpass.
Paul Sampietro, one of the victims, told Eyewitness News he noticed the suspect driving erratically and bumping into cars. He decided he was going to try to box-in the driver of the Mustang until law enforcement arrived.
That's when the wild video began.
The enraged driver backed into the car behind him, then slammed into the driver's side of the man taking the video, then backed into another car on the opposite side of the street, before ramming into a minivan, in what was at least the fourth vehicle he struck with his car.
"He was just at the light, looking at his phone, and when he went, he went through the light, almost hitting cars at Ventura so then I stayed with him because I was going the same direction," said Sampietro. "Then I noticed he was driving erratically and bumping into the people almost until he finally hit someone. So then I stopped and boxed him in so he couldn't get away."
After the suspect hit both the plumbing truck and the box truck, he went over a center median, backed into a black Porsche and then into another car.
The Los Angeles Police Department said multiple people received minor injuries and were all treated at the scene.
Four cars - aside from the Mustang - were involved.
"He looked like he was stressed out maybe," said Sampietro. "He didn't look impaired, his driving looked impaired. He was just after everyone so maybe he didn't really know what he was doing."
Meanwhile, John Crawford, who owns John Crawford Co. Blinds, Shades, Drapery, shared surveillance video from his story which captured a different angle of Wednesday's ordeal.
Crawford said he's been at the same location for almost three decades and said he's witnessed numerous car crashes but nothing like this.
"It really wasn't an accident, it looked more like road rage, especially this last one, it was very disturbing. I have never seen so much aggression."
LAPD officers eventually took the suspect -- identified as 22-year-old Seth Pointe -- into custody for four counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Pointe has been released on bail.
