CAPE CORAL, Fla -- A Cape Coral woman fears the city's streets, Tuesday, after a road rage incident.
Her husband told Fox 4 about the incident near a Wawa gas station off Pine Island Road, in which a Hispanic male in a white Chevrolet Tahoe threatened to kill her after his wife cut him off. "The guy pulled up flashing his lights, chasing her, beeping his horn. He said "I'm going to kill you, you [explicit.]"
He feels his wife was in danger at that moment. "I feel my wife could have been shot. I truly believe some serious harm could have come to her if the situation was a little bit different."
According to her husband, when the Cape Coral Police Department was called, they said they could not do anything about it, despite the Wawa having partial surveillance video of the car involved. "My question is, if you do something right, why won't Cape police investigate, when there is some video. Or at least make an attempt to find out who this perpetrator is."
When Fox 4 reached out to CCPD, they said a road rage incident like the one described is considered assault. They sent the following statement:
"In a case of road rage that consists of verbal threats only, the crime would be assault: the threat of violence to another that put that person in fear for their safety, and the suspect had the opportunity (present at scene, so yes), ability (physically able to carry out threat), and intent (allegedly stated). Without any independent witnesses, these cases often become a “he said she said”, with probable cause difficult to determine. If we don’t have vehicle information or suspect information available either from the victim, witnesses, or surveillance that shows this information, follow-up can be difficult to impossible.
People that find themselves in an uncomfortable, unsafe situation like this should first try to remove themselves from it by leaving, preferably to a public place or a police station if nearby, and contacting police. Another option in the absence of a witness would be to record on a phone, both for evidentiary purposes and as a deterrent to someone threatening harm. First and foremost is to get help either from law enforcement or friendly citizens in a public place, and to get away from the threat.
