Man Accused Of Driving Drunk, Pointing Gun At Another Car On I-95
WOBURN (CBS) -- A Beverly man who was allegedly driving drunk when he pulled a gun on another driver during a late night road rage incident has been arrested.
A State Trooper responded to I-95 South in Woburn around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday to find an S.U.V. had been hit by a 2014 black Jeep Cherokee. Jason Root, 37, was standing outside his Jeep and a gun was visible on his seat.
The victim Root allegedly crashed into is a restaurant manager from Burlington. He wanted WBZ to use his first name, Bryan, and did not want his face shown. "At about 80, maybe 90 miles per hour, somebody comes up behind me and smashes into my car and at that point for the next 10 minutes he did his very best to try to make me go off the side of the road, tried to make me go into the rail, tried to crash into me," Bryan said.
According to State Police the victim reported that the incident started on Route 93. Bryan says Root eventually forced his car off the road, then pulled a gun on him.
"So the second I saw it I thought oh my god he's got a pistol," Bryan said. "He said 'get the f out of your car' when he pulled the gun on me."
Bryan says he ducked, hit the gas and peeled out. Root was apprehended by State Police and surrendered his weapon. Root had a license to carry the gun.
According to State Police, the trooper took the gun and placed it in his own cruiser. He then noticed that Root appeared to be drunk and he gave Root multiple field sobriety tests.
Root initially resisted arrest but was eventually was taken to the Danvers Barracks to be booked for OUI.
Bryan told WBZ he thought his life was over. "They say life flashes before your eyes, it wasn't my life I saw, it was my daughter," he said.
Root was charged with operating under the influence of liquor, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm while intoxicated, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, and resisting arrest.
A judge allowed Root to remain blocked from the view a courtroom camera when he was arraigned on Tuesday. Through his attorney, Root denied the charges and was held on $20,000 cash bail.