HASTINGS, Minn. — A Texas truck driver is charged with threats of violence and damage to property following a road rage incident on I-35 in the south metro Wednesday.
Dakota County prosecutors filed the two felony counts against 40-year-old Chiam Aryah Leib Slater of Houston in an incident that spilled off the interstate and onto a ramp in Lakeville.
A trooper was dispatched to the County Road 50 exit after a 911 call from a driver reporting that another motorist was hitting his vehicle with a hatchet. By the time law enforcement arrived the alleged attacker had left the scene in a semi-truck hauling construction equipment, but Lakeville Police caught up with the suspect a bit south on I-35 in New Market Township.
In the criminal complaint filed against him, prosecutors say investigators saw a hatchet tucked away in a storage pocket on the semi's driver's side door. When asked if he had struck the victim's vehicle with the hatchet, Slater reportedly said yes, explaining that the other motorist had "cut him off." The defendant told the trooper he had yelled at the other man to get out of his vehicle several times, and did not intend to strike him with the hatchet but wanted to scare him.
Videotape from MnDOT cameras show a man, now identified as Slater, climbing out of a semi on the off-ramp and approaching the vehicle in front of him. The cameras are too far away to clearly see the dark vehicle being struck, but the driver backs up to get away from the other man, who follows.
When interviewed by troopers, the victim said he was fearful during the incident, and was concerned the defendant would show up at his house and cause further harm.
An estimate indicated that repairing the damage caused to the victim's vehicle would be more than $2,200.
This is not the first high-profile incident of road rage to occur in recent memory. Back in May, for example, video captured people in Richfield throwing bricks and rocks at another driver after a dispute on the roads.
According to the car insurance site The Zebra, 92 percent of people surveyed say they have witnessed a road rage incident in the last year.
Pete Hosmer, who operates A+ Driving School in the Twin Cities, said aggression on the roads has become a significant problem since the pandemic started.
"It's definitely worse, even for driving instructors," Hosmer said. "If it's really bad, you're allowed to use your cell phone to call 911 in that type of a situation on the roads. But my first advice to our students is, just get out of there."
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