OCEANSIDE, Calif. – The driver of an apparent road-rage incident that ended with a rollover crash on a highway in Oceanside Thursday was arrested on assault charges, according to California Highway Patrol.
The incident took place on state Route 78 near College Boulevard, in the Oceanside area, around 4:25 p.m., according to CHP.
It was not immediately clear what sparked the dispute, but FOX 5 spoke with the woman who captured the incident on Snapchat then posted the video on Twitter. She told FOX 5 what she thinks triggered the behavior.
“Because the other car that flipped over, he wouldn’t let him over, so I think he got mad at that so I think that’s what caused it because he even went in front of me all fast and he was going pretty fast for traffic,” said Dallas Montanez.
The video begins with Montanez describing everything as it unfolded. At one point, the male driver in the BMW gets out of his car, walks to the Ford Escape and spits at the man after he rolled down his window.
The video then shows the driver go back to his white BMW convertible, which is soon hit by the SUV from behind, but it backfires and the SUV ends up on its side.
CHP says no one was hurt, but the driver of the BMW took off. Montanez tells FOX 5 what she was thinking as it all unfolded.
“I was just like what the hell is this crazy guy doing? This is insane. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Montanez said.
Investigators said they used the video to get the license plate of the BMW and later cited him for a misdemeanor assault charge based on him allegedly spitting on the other driver. He has been identified as Kevin McCall of Vista.
The driver of the SUV was identified by CHP as Andrew Branch of Escondido. He was arrested on charges of felony assault with a deadly weapon and was booked at the Vista Detention Facility.
Traffic on eastbound SR-78 was backed up for about an hour.
Montanez says both were in the wrong and the whole incident could have been avoided, but she recorded it and never imagined her video would blow up like it did.
“That’s what they wanted to do I guess. The guy in the convertible had a bad day and he was over it,” said Montanez.
Both men will have a court date, according to CHP.
