Motorist Tells Police a Driver with Road Rage Rammed Her Car on Freeway

A Pleasant Hill woman told police her 2011 Mitsubishi Eclipse was rammed from behind several times by a driver who had road rage as she drove east on Interstate 235 early Friday evening.

She told West Des Moines police that after the other driver pulled around her, she sped up and chased him to get his license number, which she provided to police. Authorities have attempted to track down the suspect, a 35-year-old Des Moines man, who faces possible assault with a dangerous weapon charges.

The woman told police the man, driving a black Oldsmobile Bravada SUV, reportedly began following her after she merged into eastbound traffic from Valley West Drive southbound.

She told Officer Jacob Rolph that she used her turn signal and crossed two lanes of traffic before reaching the far left lane, but that “she had plenty of room” to merge in front of the suspect driver’s vehicle.

The driver accelerated and began following her with only inches separating their bumpers, according to the report.

“She said she was shocked by what happened next,” Rolph wrote in his report. “The vehicle ran into the back of her car three to four times.”

The woman dialed 911 as she gave chase to the other driver and was passed from one dispatch center to another in confusion over jurisdiction. According to the report, Westcom Dispatch took the call and referred her to Des Moines Police, which referred her back to the West Des Moines Police Department.

After the woman’s initial 911 call to Westcom Dispatch, several witnesses called to report what they’d seen, according to the report.

Rolph met the victim at Valley West Mall, where he inspected minor damage to the vehicle’s rear bumper. The woman said her neck hurt from the impact and if the pain continued, she would seek medical attention.