Man arrested after Scotts Valley road rage incident on Highway 17
UPDATE: 07/25/18 A man is behind bars after a road rage incident on Highway 17.
According to Scotts Valley Police, two drivers got into a road rage incident on Tuesday, July 24th.
Police said one driver, now identified as Larry Davis of Santa Cruz, pointed a rifle out of his window at the other driver.
“Victim called and said that he was in a brief altercation regarding some brake checking and erratic driving and during the course of that the suspect in the vehicle pointed a rifle at him out the driver’s side window,” says Sgt. Wayne Bellville.
Both drivers made their way into Scotts Valley and officers were able to locate Davis, “he tried to evade us briefly, by hiding behind a business and cut across four and a half lanes of traffic and went behind one of the local businesses on Scotts Valley Drive. Our officer got to him very quickly before he was able to flee and took him into custody safely,” says Sgt. Bellville.
Officers also discovered four guns in the driver’s car. The guns were not loaded and there was no ammunition in the car, but Davis was arrested for felony brandishing of a firearm and DUI.
California Highway Patrol says they’ve seen an increase in aggressive driving over the past several years, “it’s been progressive over the past few years I know that we’ve gotten a lot of calls from citizens complaining whether road rage is happening or when someone is driving aggressively. They’ll call it in to 9-1-1 or call it into our office here. So ya know we’re seeing a steady increase of aggressiveness,” says Officer Trista Drake.
One thing CHP says can help prevent road rage is being a predictable driver, like using your turn signal.
Also, “If you’re upset or angry, don’t drive wait till you cool off a little bit before you get behind the wheel, don’t cut people off, be very observant of the cars that are around you and just try to be a polite driver,” says Ofc. Drake.
Another thing to keep in mine Sgt. Bellville says, “you never know what the other party has. So they may have a weapon, they may use it. We got lucky this time that it was just a brandishing , but the suspect could have had a loaded firearm and could have used it.”
PREVIOUS STORY:
A man is behind bars after a road rage incident on Highway 17.
According to Scotts Valley Police, two drivers got into a road rage incident on Tuesday, July 24th.
Police said one driver then pointed a rifle out of his window at the other driver. Both drivers made their way into Scotts Valley and officers found the driver with the gun.
Officers also discovered four guns in the driver’s car. He was arrested for felony brandishing of a firearm and DUI.