Little Compton Man Accused of Threatening Man During Route 24 Road Rage Incident

A 27-year-old Little Compton man is facing a slew of charges after allegedly threatening to kill a Portsmouth man on the side of Route 24 following a road rage incident that led to both cars driving backwards on the highway.

The incident occurred as the victim relayed what was happening to Portsmouth police dispatchers, according to a police report, and Zachary William Medeiros, 27, of 5 Hoot Owl Lane, Little Compton, is now facing charges of simple assault, reckless driving, vandalism and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

It all began on Tuesday morning when the victim reportedly encountered Medeiros in his GMC Canyon while both were heading south on Route 24.

The victim told police that Medeiros nearly struck him as he passed, so he flashed his high beams to send a signal that he nearly caused a crash.

The flashing apparently enraged Medeiros, who then reportedly drove more erratically, took Exit 5 in Tiverton, then re-entered Route 24 and got behind the victim.

Out of fear, the victim sped up, but Medeiros continued to follow and was able to pass. He then “would continually come to a stop and reverse on Route 24 between Exit 3 and 2 as a way of causing fear,” according to a police report.

The victim was forced to reverse to avoid a collision. But when they got to Exit 2 and 1, Medeiros did ram into the victim’s car in another round of stopping and reversing.

It was then that Medeiros reportedly got out of his car and while standing in front of the victim’s car, put his hands in the air and “stated that he was going to kill him.”

Medeiros then got back into his GMC and took Exit 1, where he was stopped by police.

Once in police custody, Medeiros said he couldn’t see because of the high beams and got off at Exit 5 to get away from the other car. He then said he stopped on the highway to scare the victim and did collide with the other car. He claimed that he was going to go to the police station to report the incident.

“I explained to him that he never called the police during any part of the incident and that he should have called at the time of the collision to report the crash,” an officer reported.

Medeiros was released on $1,000 personal recognizance and is due to appear in court on March 19 for a pretrial conference.