Man Followed, Stabbed By Another Driver In Apparent Road Rage Incident
MILAN (WWJ) - Police in southern Washtenaw County say a man was tailgated, followed and eventually stabbed by another man who attacked him in an apparent case of road rage.
The situation started to unfold just before 9:25 p.m. Friday along US-23 in Milan, as two men were driving southbound in a silver Chevy Tahoe near Willis Road.
The men, both in their 20s, told police they were driving in the right lane when a dark red compact car started tailgating their SUV. The driver said he slowed down to allow the car to pull around his vehicle, but it just kept tailgating them.
Eventually, the driver exited the freeway at Carpenter Road and turned right. The suspect vehicle also exited and followed the SUV, police said.
The driver told police he then pulled slightly off the road and partially into a parking lot driveway on the west side of Dexter Street near Arkona Road and stopped. Police said the suspect followed, exited his car and approached the SUV.
The driver said he got out of his SUV to talk to the suspect when a confrontation ensued. The driver told police the suspect pummeled him repeatedly in the side and abdomen.
When the driver's passenger realized his friend was being attacked, he rushed from the SUV and began punching the suspect in the facial area to try to get him to disengage from the victim, police said.
At that point the suspect backed away, displayed a small folding pocket knife in the same hand he had been punching the victim with, and asked the passenger if he "wanted some of this," according to police.
The two men then ran back into their SUV, circled around the store that was nearby and turned south on Dexter Street. Shortly thereafter, the driver realized he had been injured and observed a small puncture wound in his abdominal area. He was transported to a local hospital with what appear to be non-life threatening injuries.
The suspect vehicle exited the driveway, turned north on Dexter Street and was last seen near the US-23 overpass.
The suspect is described as a heavy-set white man, approximately 50-years-old, 5'7" tall with black scruffy hair and a scruffy beard, wearing blue jeans and a black flannel short-sleeved shirt. Police say the suspect may have facial injuries from being punched during the altercation.
The suspect vehicle is described as a two-door, burgundy to red colored Kia-type compact vehicle.
Anyone who may have witnessed the original traffic altercation or the assault, or who might have any information regarding the suspect or his vehicle, is urged to contact Milan police at 734-439-1551, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.