WESTLAKE, Ohio – Westlake police charged a city resident with criminal damaging in connection with a reported road rage incident involving the suspect’s pickup truck and a semi on I-90.
The semi driver called the Westlake Police Department at 11:15 a.m. on April 16 to report that a gray Honda pickup truck pulled in front of him on I-90 near the Cleveland-Lakewood border and began brake-checking the semi. The semi driver said the driver of the pickup also “flipped the bird.”
The semi driver thought the incident was over when the pickup truck sped down the highway, out of sight. However, the semi driver found the pickup truck stopped along the highway berm near Columbia Road in Westlake. As the semi passed the pickup truck, the driver ran onto the highway and hurled a hammer at the passing semi, striking and damaging the truck cab, according to the police department.
Westlake officers used Flock license plate cameras to learn the license plate number of the pickup.
Officers tracked the driver to a Columbia Road home, where they arrested the 51-year-old suspect at 2:30 p.m. on April 20. The man admitted to getting into a road dispute with the semi as he believed that the truck was going too slowly in the left lane, according to a Westlake Police Department press release. The suspect also admitted to throwing the hammer in anger. Westlake officers charged the man with criminal damaging.
Westlake police officers also learned from the Cleveland Police Department that it was looking for the suspect on a felony vandalism charge stemming from nearly $100,000 in damage to a Cleveland convention center and nearby hotel, according to a Westlake Police Department press release.
The Cleveland Police Department picked up the suspect from Westlake in connection with the case in its jurisdiction, according to the Westlake press release.
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