State police have arrested a man who is accused of ramming into a 78-year-old man’s car and punching him in the face during a road-rage incident in Brookfield.
It happened on Saturday morning, around 11:44 a.m. on Route 7 South near Exit 11, state police said. Then the driver got onto Interstate 84.
The victim told police that he had been in the right lane on Route 7 South and a driver in a blue BMW suddenly sped up while he was trying to change lanes and blocked him.
Once the BMW passed him, the 78-year-old man was able to move into the left lane, but then the BMW driver slammed on the brakes and stopped, police said.
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The victim swerved to avoid a crash and the BMW cut in front of him and sideswiped the passenger side of his vehicle, according to state police.
The victim said he pulled over to the right shoulder after he was struck and the other driver spun across the left lane and into the median, then got back onto the highway, rammed into the back of his vehicle, then got out of the BMW, walked toward him, opened his door and punched him in the face, police said.
Then, the assailant took the victim’s cell phone from his hand, slammed it on the ground, went back to his car and left, state police said.
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The victim reported minor injuries and declined medical treatment.
Witnesses told dispatchers that the driver was in a blue BMW 330x and got off I-84 at exit 6 in Danbury, so state police alerted police in several towns to be on the lookout for the vehicle.
New Milford police assisted in the investigation and went to the address of the registered driver and stopped the vehicle in front of the residence, state police said.
Then a trooper arrived and arrested a 55-year-old man.
He has been charged with reckless driving, evading responsibility with physical injury, failure to drive upon the right side of the roadway, improper acceleration while being passed, failure to drive in proper lane, criminal mischief in the first degree, third-degree assault of an elderly victim and reckless endangerment in the second degree.
He was released on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned at Danbury Superior Court on Dec. 19.
