Exclusive: Radnor Man Arrested After Drunken Rampage
By Walt Hunter
RADNOR, Pa. (CBS) -- A Radnor man is under arrest after going on a drunk rampage Friday night, beating a woman and leaving her in the street, before driving off with his 10-year-old son in the car.
Police say drunk driving suspect Robert Maxwell put the lives of his son and other people at risk in Radnor as he careened around streets filled with holiday shoppers, and people in town for the annual tree lighting ceremony.
The terrifying high-speed ride ended when Maxwell sliced across a front yard and slammed into a boulder, police say the drunken man had no regard for his young son in the car.
"What really turns my stomach, is that during this entire incident his ten year-old son was in the back seat of his car," said Radnor Police Superintendent William Colarulo.
Colarulo says that it began as Maxwell pulled out of parking lot in Wayne, before exploding into road rage, attacking a woman whose car he nearly hit.
"He starts to beat her. He drags her, throws her into the hedges, and begins to kick her. If it wasn't for other passersby, to come to help this woman, god knows how serious the injuries would have been," says Colarulo.
After nearly running down the woman he just attacked, Maxwell, police say, then began swerving down busy lanes of Lancaster Avenue, nearly colliding with two more cars before turning on to Chamounix Road and crashing.
"When the officers asked him how much he had to drink, he responds, 'too much'."
Attempts to reach the suspect for comment were unsuccessful. Neighbors, learning about the incident, were relieved it ended without anyone being seriously hurt.
"Once something starts escalating like this it can get worse for sure. So it is a good thing it ended when it did," said Jim Burkardt.
"As a parent or just a human being, I don't know what he was thinking to exhibit that kind of behavior, again with your son in the car, is incomprehensible.," said Colarulo.
Radnor Police say the victim declined hospital treatment, initially, even though her lower body was covered with bruises, welts, and contusions. Maxwell is currently facing eight charges, including Aggravated Assault. At an arraignment held Saturday morning, bail was set at $30,000.
