Road rage is a toxic and often alarming phenomenon. But this takes things several steps further.
Captured on camera, a man in a fury of roadrage rams his car into another vehicle repeatedly, then gets out to stomp on the other car.
You have to see this video for yourself, but we"ve immortalized a few of the highlights in gif form because they are worth seeing.
Watch that again. As you can see, his car is already damaged.
So, according to police and eyewitness reports, here is what happened:
Just before 1:30pm on Monday, June 4, two vehicles exited Highway 50 in Sacramento.
Then, near X and 10th street, a white Chevy Trailblazer began ramming into a silver Ford Fiesta. Repeatedly.
Sacramento police say that the Ford Fiesta left the area … which is when the Trailblazer picked a new victim.
Authorities say that the Trailblazer then began ramming a blue Honda CRV, which had been parked.
The repeated blows forced the vehicle into the intersection of X and 10th.
Mercifully, the CRV was not occupied at the time.
By this point, of course, there were multiple bystanders.
A few were quick-thinking enough to film the horrifying displays of violence, aggression, and rage.
One of the eyewitnesses was Nikki Guinn, who lives in the area.
"I was inside and I heard a car accident."
Well, she heard a collision. An accident would imply that it"s not intentional. But she didn"t know that, yet.
"Then, I heard my roommate yell, ‘He’s going to hit him again.’"
She remarked upon the behavior and speculates about the mental state of the driver, saying:
"He didn’t seem deterred or even aware of other people’s surroundings."
The video would seem to support that.
The driver, who would later be identified as 40-year-old Jose Garcia Alvarez, did not stop there.
After his efforts to destroy the other vehicle with his own car were exhausted — you can see white smoke rising from his rear tires — he got out of the car.
Not to get help or even to flee the scene — but to physically attack the car with his own body.
Police say that he was mostly just smashing what remained of the empty vehicle"s windshield.
We are thankful that the car was not occupied.
As you can imagine, Alvarez was super arrested. He was first taken to a hospital for treatment, then booked on charges of vandalism and assault.
Guinn, despite witnessing the violence, takes a sympathetic tone when she describes him.
"He seemed really upset. There’s a couple of moments where he bends over and he starts hitting his head and he just seems really lost."
Officers did mention that they had been alerted that he may have been under the influence of narcotics.
"I think we just need to be more aware of what people are going through."
That is good advice. That does not, of course, mean that anyone needs to allow themselves to be put in harm"s way.
"Our inkling is to make fun and say nasty things about what this man was doing. But the truth is, none of us know."
She"s right. That is … very insightful for a random bystander. Good job, Guinn.
