CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Driver goes on ‘rampage’ in local intersection, hits multiple vehicles before taking off
Published at | Updated atPOCATELLO — A wild crash caught on camera Wednesday afternoon had a witness describing the scene as a “rampage” with one car a “ballistic missile locked in and going for a target.”
It happened at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Alameda/Pocatello Creek Road around 4 p.m.
Noah P., who asked EastIdahoNews.com not to use his last name for privacy reasons, was waiting at a red light on Alameda Road when a white car two lanes over suddenly drove into the intersection and stopped.
“The lady (driver) was honking, yelling in her car and then turned on music and smiled before she pulled out of the turn lane,” Noah says. “She stopped and waited for the oncoming traffic to go when she turned into a Chevy.”
Dashcam video from Noah’s car (watch in the player above) shows the driver of the white car hitting and pushing the driver’s side of a gray Chevrolet. After a few seconds, the driver of the white car backs up and drives in a reverse circle motion until she hits the passenger side of the same Chevrolet. The impact happened seconds after the passenger attempted to get out of the car, but got back in before being hit.
“I thought when she hit the Chevy at first it was targeted. She acted like a ballistic missile locked in going for her target,” Noah says. “Then she backed right into it and I thought, ‘You gotta be kidding me. This looks like a vendetta.'”
The driver of the white car then pulls away and drives into the rear of a blue SUV turning onto Pocatello Creek Road. The white car pushes the SUV over the median and into at least one other vehicle stopped in the other lane.
“I thought she was going to keep on going straight but for whatever reason, she locked onto that SUV and smacked it too. Then, not only that, it hit cars in the other lane,” Noah explains.
The driver of the white car then drives away down Pocatello Creek Road.
Noah and other witnesses got out of their vehicles to make sure everyone was OK. Pocatello Police officers, paramedics and a fire truck were called to the scene.
Pocatello Police Lt. Joshua Hancock tells EastIdahoNews.com officers apprehended the driver of the white car, who appeared to have suffered a mental episode. She was in the hospital on a mental hold as of Thursday afternoon and charges are pending, according to Hancock.
Nobody was seriously hurt in the incident, and Noah is glad his dash camera was recording.
“I keep a dash cam because a few years ago, I had some drunk drivers sideswipe my car. It cost me about $5,000 to $6,000,” he says. “I’m glad I was there in the front row, but it sucks for the cars that were damaged in her rampage. I gave them the video, and they can send it to their insurance companies.”