Cops: Man hit woman's car in road rage

AUSTIN (KXAN) - An alleged road rage incident off of U.S. Highway 183 led authorities to arrest Salome Ramirez-Benitez, 26, and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Police said he hit a woman's car three times at 8 p.m. on Sunday. Demisha McCradic, 20, called 911 and said a man had repeatedly hit her car and tried to "spin them out."

When police came to 6200 Loyola Lane , they met the victim who had followed the suspect and called police.

"He hit [my car] two times in the back," said McCradic.

McCradic was driving along MLK Jr. Boulevard, waiting for traffic to merge onto U.S. Highway 183 in East Austin, when it happened.

"I was yielding," said McCradic. "I slowed down I heard somebody blow the horn, so I'm like 'we gotta wait.' So, [then] it was my turn, so I went."

McCradic said that is when Ramirez-Benitez hit her car the first time. She tried to drive away from Ramirez-Benitez, but he caught up to her. She was driving about 40 mph down U.S. Highway 183 when she said he tried to spin her car off the road by hitting it.

"He got on the side of me and rammed me on the side," said McCradic. "That's what all this damage is."

However, police said he did not stop there.

"Then, he got around me, and got in front [of me] and reversed, and hit the front of [my car]," said McCradic.

She said during all of this, he was yelling and honking. She called 911 and followed Ramirez-Benitez to his apartment where he parked his car and fled on foot. Still, police said they had enough witnessesto arrest him.

"The officer noticed the damage, and the blue paint from the truck was actually on the side of her car," said Sergeant Keith Bazzle with the Austin Police Department.

Bazzle added that McCradic did the right thing by getting the license plate number and trying to get away from him at first.

McCradic said she never thought a driver would get so angry.

"We were just so shocked all this was going on," said McCradic. "A man we didn't know was just doing this because we were yielding on the highway.

The victim's father, Michael McCradic, bought the car for his daughter just eight months ago. He said she was shocked and upset.

"She had to wait on traffic, and as she entered the lane, the person behind her got frustrated, and he ran into her," said Michael. "I'm glad she was OK. She could have been hurt."

Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon - the typical charge in road-rage cases - is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.