DEER PARK – Deer Park police have handed over the investigation of a viral road rage incident to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Video first posted to Reddit by a cyclist shows his encounter with the driver of a Jeep last Wednesday.
The incident was captured by his body-worn camera and a second camera attached to the rear of his bicycle.
“This is the first time when I’ve ever had an encounter where I felt like my life was in danger,” the cyclist told KPRC 2. The man asked that his identity be concealed because he still fears for his safety.
On April 13, the cyclist said he was at the intersection of X Street and Georgia Avenue around 7 a.m. waiting for traffic to clear so he could make a left turn.
“To my right, a Jeep was coming and he had slowed way down. I was like ‘Oh, he’s trying to let me go, he’s seeing I’m trying to get across the street,’” the cyclist said.
After making the turn, the cyclist said the driver of the Jeep pulled up next to him and started yelling expletives.
“(He) Calls me a really derogatory word... I don’t want to say what it was but it was very offensive. He either said ‘Go home’ or ‘Get over,’ and my immediate reaction was to flip him off just because he had so much aggression with me. I shouldn’t have done it, it wasn’t helping the situation,” the cyclist said.
The video shows the back and forth continued until the driver of the Jeep sped off ahead of the cyclist.
“His parting words were, ‘I hope you die,’ he recalled.
The cyclist thought the incident was over until a few minutes later he saw the driver make a U-turn.
“He turns in my direction (and starts) coming straight at me. He kind of veers off and just narrowly misses me. It felt like he was at least a foot away from hitting me,” the cyclist said.
The cyclist told KPRC 2 he initially did not want to press charges, but is now having second thoughts.
“I really should. I feel I should press charges on him because what he did was totally unacceptable. He essentially took a loaded weapon, pointed it straight right in my direction, and then moved it just a little to the side and pulled the trigger. He could have potentially killed me, and he also went into oncoming traffic, and he could have killed someone else,” the man said.
Deer Park Police spoke to the driver of the Jeep who claimed the cyclist cut him off.
“He told us he was initially mad because the bicyclist was in the road. We told him that is the law, that’s where they’re supposed to ride. He said he shouldn’t have done what he did, but he did it and he admitted that he did it. It is a concerning video and it’s something we don’t want to tolerate here in Deer Park and that’s why it’s being investigated,” said Deer Park Police spokesman Lieutenant Chris Brown.
Lt. Brown told KPRC that the Harris County D.A.’s vehicular crimes unit is reviewing the case.
KPRC 2 reached out to the Jeep driver but did not get a response.