By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
A road rage incident in Bowling Green started with one driver cutting off another in the downtown area, escalated to the other driver making a threat using a racial slur – and resulted in two bystanders reporting the incident to police.
Bowling Green Police Major Justin White reported the road rage incident to the city’s Human Relations Commission on Friday morning.
Last month, a female driver was in the turn lane as she was headed southbound on Main Street. She ended up going straight, and cut into the lane of a male driver also headed south.
“Then they started this kind of back and forth of braking, and honestly just screwing with each other in the road because they’re both upset with one another,” White said.
When both vehicles stopped at a red light at Napoleon Road, the man reportedly got out of his vehicle and went over to the woman’s car and started screaming.
“There was a witness that was sitting across the intersection and sees it,” White said.
The witness followed the woman, and pulled over to check on her when she stopped her vehicle. The driver said the man yelled, “I am going to shoot you,” then used the N-word. The woman said she had to get to class, and did not want to report the threat.
A second bystander also contacted Bowling Green police, and reported hearing the man use the racist slur. “It shocked him,” White said.
The female witness, who had taken a photograph of both license plates, contacted Bowling Green Police Division. It turned out the woman had been driving her friend’s car, so BGPD worked with BGSU to contact the driver.
“The officer ends up tracking down the female,” White said.
But the woman told police she did not want to pursue charges.
The police, however, talked with the man who reportedly threatened her with harm and racist language. He told police that when the two were yelling at each other in traffic, she allegedly said “I’m going to have my boys come get you,” White said.
The man admitted getting out of his vehicle at the stoplight on Napoleon Road and screaming at the woman.
The information was sent to the city prosecutor, but no charges will be filed since the woman did not want the matter pursued, White explained.
“That’s her decision. We can’t make her follow through with it,” White said. “I wish she would have gone through with it. We had the potential there for a menacing charge at the very least.”
But White said he was very pleased that the road rage incident did not go ignored by strangers.
“We had two bystanders who reached out to us when something occurred, and one also stopped to talk with the victim.”
