Road Rage Suspect Accused Of Assaulting 85-Year-Old Man
QUINCY (CBS) - A 48-year-old Weymouth man has been charged with felony assault and battery, accused of striking an elderly man in a Quincy Walmart parking lot.
Eighty-five year old James Bourgat says he honked his horn at William Hines as the two sat at a traffic light at the base of the lot. When it turned green, Bourgat says Hines didn't move.
"It seemed like he didn't realize it. I waited a few seconds and tapped my horn, he started moving but very slowly," said Bourgat. That's when he claims that Hines tried to send him into the curb as the elderly driver tried to get around him.
WBZ-TV's Beth Germano reports
Bourgat says he was followed into the parking lot and when he got out of his car, Hines went on the attack. "When I got out of the car he came running up swinging at me. I put my hands up and he slapped me in the face. I took a swing at him and missed," he said.
Bourgat suffered a black eye and cuts to his eye and nose, while his eyeglasses were bent during the confrontation. Both men called 9-1-1 and told very different versions of what happened.
"A man started attacking me in the parking lot here at the Walmart parking lot. He punched me in the face," Bourgat told police. On the tape Hines could be heard saying he'll tell his side of the story and called soon after.
"There was an old man driving erratically," he told police. "I get out of my car. He comes out of the car at me. Naturally, he's an old man, he's telling people I punched him the face," said Hines. Police say they have surveillance video from Walmart and eyewitnesses, including store employees who ran to help Bourgat stop the bleeding.
"This defendant was using foul language and screaming. There was no respect for an elder like that," said Detective Sergeant Jennifer Topper of Quincy police.
Bourgat said he never thought it would turn physical calling Hines, "another irate driver who has a problem". Hines was arrested at the scene and charged with assault and battery on a person over sixty. He's been released on bail.
