Hartford man charged in road rage incidents on I-84 faces judge

The Hartford man charged for terrorizing drivers on I-84 Tuesday faced a judge Thursday in Waterbury.

Robert Misericordia, 27, is facing nearly a dozen charges, including reckless driving and threatening. In court, it was stated that Misericordia struggles with his mental health.

“[We] did speak with his family, and he does require mental health attention,” a public defender said to the judge Thursday.

The judge set his bond at $150,000.

According to the arrest warrant, 911 calls about road rage incidents started coming in just before 9 a.m. on Tuesday. The first report was from a driver on I-84 West at Exit 18 who said a man in an orange Honda Civic “stopped in front of him, blocking his vehicle, and the operator exited the Honda holding a “machete,” and then “kicked the front and passenger side of the vehicle multiple times.”

The second complaint was from Alison McIntire on I-84 West at Exit 15. She recorded the encounter, where the man jumped out of the orange car and attacked her vehicle. He wasn’t seen with a weapon in this instance.

The third report came from a driver on I-84 East around exits 19-23. A driver said a man in an orange Honda Civic pulled up alongside him, "rolled down his window and stuck up his middle finger at him, yelling “I’ll [expletive] kill you.” The driver said he also saw the man point a gun out of the window that looked like a rifle.

After the road rage incidents, state police said they had a run-in with the driver on a dead-end road in Prospect. Dash camera video showed the driver hitting a cruiser to get away.

“[He] led law enforcement on a lengthy pursuit while driving erratically through well-populated areas at speeds of upwards of 90 to 100 miles per hour,” a state’s attorney said in court.

Police ran the license plate and found it was in Misericordia’s name. They found the vehicle abandoned at a Southington rest area, writing in the warrant, “the 'machete' was located on the front passenger seat of the vehicle in plain view.”

After an hours-long search, Misericordia was nowhere to be found. K9s tracked his scent to tractor trailer trucks in the lot, but then lost the scent, which is typical when someone is picked up by a driver, police said.

According to the warrant, Misericordia called troopers and "stated that he was recuperating at his house after back surgery," adding that the plate to his vehicle was stolen.

Police showed up at his home but said he did not cooperate by coming outside or answering his phone.

He later turned himself in.

McIntire said she feels relief that he’s in custody but hopes he gets help.

“Yes he’s a criminal, and he did something he shouldn’t have, but there’s still a place in my heart that I feel for him,” she said. “I really just hope he gets the help he needs.”

Simsbury police said they have a lengthy history with him. Misericordia has a pending case out of Manchester for breach of peace and failure to appear. He has no criminal convictions.

The Connecticut Judicial Branch confirmed Thursday that a Robert Misericordia worked as a temporary paralegal in Harford from October of 2022 to February 2023.