AUBURN (Courtesy of KMJ's News Partner – CBS 13 SAcramento) — A case of alleged road rage was caught on camera as two women say someone posing as a sheriff’s deputy tried to run them off of Interstate 80.
CONTENT WARNING: Videos Contain Strong Language:
Passenger Delanie Strykul says she and her friend Vanessa feared for their lives on Saturday, as they feel they were targeted by a woman driving a silver truck.
Strykul says the woman cut them off twice, but then slowed down to drive alongside their car.
“When she did that, I threw up my hands and flipped her off,” she said.
It was a move Strykul says she now regrets.
“She pulls in front of us and then pulls her car horizontal and stops us,” she said.
Strykul says she called 911 and spoke to the dispatcher in the video as the woman knocked on her window, claiming to be a deputy.
The women pulled away, but the truck caught up to them again.
“She did the whole zig-zag in three lanes with her flashers on, kind of like what a police officer would do if they were trying to slow down traffic,” Strykul said.
Eventually, Strykul says, the woman hit their vehicle and tried pushing them off the road. The woman were able to get away again.
The 911 dispatcher told the women to get off the road where an officer was waiting, but the women were afraid to exit and have the truck driver follow them.
Dierdre Orozco followed the women to the waiting California Highway Patrol officers, and was arrested at the scene for hitting the women’s car. She’s charged with assault with a deadly weapon, reckless driving and resisting arrest.
Strykul and her friend are still shaken by the incident, but say it could have turned deadly.
“We were so scared. If she had a gun it would have been way worse,” she said.
The victims may be forced to see the driver again, because if she intentionally hit their car, they would not be able to file an accident claim. Instead, they would have to take her to civil court to handle damage from the alleged road rage incident.
