Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Bro'd Rage! My ugly encounter with a dangerous young driver. PART I - The Incident


The Trinity Admissions Gate: area of my initial encounter with the wrong-way driver.

Last Friday morning, I was commuting to my job at Trinity College here in Hartford, riding my Yuba southbound along Summit Street as usual. Suddenly, I was startled to see that a dark green Toyota pickup truck had completely crossed the double yellow line and was heading northbound, directly at me, in my southbound lane. I yelled, "YO!!!" as loudly as I could to alert the driver of the truck whilst swerving to avoid a head-on collision. Collision avoided, I continued southbound on Summit, a good sight more shaken and annoyed than I had been moments earlier.

Trinity's Hamlin and Mather Halls overlook the scene of the verbal abuse and brake-check
I continued southbound toward the south side of campus and my office. Just south of the College Terrace intersection, I was startled anew to see the pickup roar up by my left side. The driver of the truck, a white male around 20, shook his middle finger and screamed obscenities (unintelligible but for the many F-Bombs) before pulling ahead of me, swerving toward the right and slamming on the brakes. I veered left, avoiding another potential collision, pedaled hard and caught up enough to get the license plate number and a better look at the truck. Having apparently turned around specifically to harass and threaten me with the truck, the enraged bro sped off heading southbound.

I immediately called the Hartford Police Department to report this incident upon arriving at my office. An HPD officer meet me a bit later at Trinity's Broad Street Gallery, where Studio Arts majors' Senior Thesis shows were being critiqued (I work in the art department). I stepped out of the Gallery and gave him my account of the incident. At this time, a Campus Safety officer was driving by on Broad Street, and the HPD officer motioned him over. He parked and joined us, I repeated my story and description, and shortly thereafter rejoined my colleagues in the gallery so as not to miss any more of the critiques. Both officers seemed friendly and efficient.

I called Campus Safety after lunch to follow up on the case and was told that HPD did not file a report, opting instead to let Campus Safety "handle it" based on the truck's description (NJ plates and a Trinity decal) making it likely the truck's driver was a student. The CS officer I had originally spoken with said that the truck had not been registered with the college (which is required), so they didn't know whose it was.

I was outraged. It was pretty clear to me at this point that this case would go nowhere if I didn't pursue the matter. My report of a Class D Felony was poised to go nowhere fast, and there aren't enough "Oh, Hell No"s in the world to describe how willing I was to accept that. Unfortunately, I had a wake to attend on Friday afternoon (this was kind of a lousy day), so I was unable to follow up until the weekend.

On Sunday afternoon, I spoke with an officer at the Hartford Public Safety complex on High Street and filed a report. Now I had a case number and a List of things to do first thing on Monday. I let you know how that went soon in Bro'd Rage Part II

NOTES:
This incident took place at approximately 9:45 AM on Summit Street in Hartford.
Dark Green Toyota Tundra extended cab pickup truck with a Trinity College decal on the rear window of the cab. White male driver, approx. 20 Y.O. New Jersey registration M91-CXN 
If you have any information to share, call the Hartford Police Department and reference Case# 14-13179

7 comments:

  1. I just looked at Trinity College's campus safety crime log for Friday. There are two incidents recorded, neither of which reflects what you have written here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unfortunately without a witness I don't think they can do anything.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Were there witnesses? It seems like a time of day when other people would be around.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The victim is also the witness.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cops just like to declare that there's nothing that they can do without a witness. It makes their job easier.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I’m sorry to hear that you had to get involved with a case of reckless driving. I can just imagine the disappointment you felt when the police didn't do anything about your complaint. Anyway, I just hope that both you and the other driver learned a thing or two from the incident. Take care always!

    Faith Brady @ KHunter LAw

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is such a terrible incident to be in! And to think that there is nothing could be done about it due to the lack of witness makes it even worst. Anyway, I hope this ended well for you, and that you don’t encounter something like this again. Keep safe!


    Joanne Krueger @ Kurtz & Blum

    ReplyDelete