A road raged driver intentionally hit a motorcycle carrying two people on the Coronado Bridge, San Diego Police Department officials confirmed.
The incident happened just before 6 p.m. on Saturday in westbound traffic atop the Coronado Bay Bridge.
According to CHP officials, a motorcyclist exchanged words and hand gestures with the driver of a blue BMW. The driver of the vehicle then allegedly intentionally struck the motorcycle, and two people were thrown from the bike.
SDPD Lt. Paul Rorrison said the incident was an act of road rage.
“I was a deliberate act – it was not an accident. [The male driver] tried to crash into the motorcycle,” Lt. Rorrison told NBC 7.
Police say a woman and toddler were inside the BMW with the male driver when the collision occurred. The driver was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Lt. Rorrison said an off-duty officer traveling on the bridge at the time of the incident saw the whole thing. The officer first noticed the BMW swerving in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed.
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“He almost hit our sergeant’s car and he almost hit another vehicle that was right next to our sergeant’s car,” Lt. Rorrison explained.
Police say the off-duty officer saw the motorcycle come up from behind, then maneuver past the BMW.
Then, tempers flared.
“It appeared to our sergeant that there were some words exchanged between the motorcycle rider and his passenger and the driver of the BMW,” said Lt. Rorrison. “Our sergeant saw the driver of the BMW look at the motorcycle, make some sort of gesture and turn directly into it, striking it.”
Police say both occupants of the motorcycle were thrown off it in the crash. The driver then fled the scene, and the sergeant chased him, detaining him once he stopped in Coronado.
Lt. Rorrison said the road raged driver began following orders once the sergeant identified himself.
The driver was directed to stay in the car, but allegedly attempted to get out of the vehicle and flee at least twice, according to police.
The two motorcycle victims were taken to UCSD Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
The incident is under investigation. The names of the driver and motorcycle occupants have not been released.
