Inconsiderate road users can make our blood boil at the best of times.
Yet intervening to correct selfish, thoughtless, or downright dangerous driving carries clear risks – it’s unlikely that Mr. or Mrs. Reckless, who act thus for a reason, will be overly thankful.
It’s safe to say that a Delaware man arrested at the weekend for an attempted road rage murder failed to appreciate the impromptu and unsolicited driving trips he received from another motorist.
Police responded around 6 p.m. Saturday to multiple reports of gunfire at a home in Sand Bay Drive, in the Villages at Herring Creek neighborhood of Lewes, a town in the state’s Cape Region.
Upon arrival they found a man who had been shot and was already receiving medical attention, the Delaware State Police said in a statement.
The 38-year-old victim told officers that he had spotted a small dark-colored SUV with a kayak on its roof traveling “recklessly” along nearby Camp Arrow Head Road.
Perhaps unwisely, the man decided to take matters into his hands, following the SUV and forcing it to stop as it turned onto Sand Bay Drive.
The unnamed victim then got out of his car for a confrontation, only to find that the other driver, 28-year-old Kevin T. Brownlee, was not one to take kindly to slights on his roadcraft.
Still sitting in his SUV, Brownlee allegedly tried to punch the victim through the car window. The man reached inside the vehicle to block the punch but only succeeded in getting his arm stuck.
As Brownlee tried to speed off, the victim managed to pull his arm out in the nick of time before falling to the ground.
The deranged SUV driver then allegedly attempted to reverse over his prone adversary, with the latter just about getting out of the way.
Many might have called it quits by then for their own safety, but the victim, undeterred, got back into his car and followed Brownlee home.
The two carried on fighting outside Brownlee’s residence on Sand Bay Drive, until Brownlee decided that the best way to bring the disagreeable matter to a close was to go inside and get his handgun.
Surely realizing what was to follow, the victim had already returned to his car when Brownlee came back out all guns blazing.
The victim was struck by a bullet and decided to leave his vehicle and take his chances on foot as Brownlee allegedly continued pumping rounds at him.
The 38-year-old managed to get away but required hospital treatment for a gunshot wound to his arm and a graze to his head.
Brownlee was taken into custody without incident and charged with first-degree attempted murder, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, first-degree reckless endangering, and criminal mischief with $5,000 or more in property damage.
He was arraigned before the Justice of the Peace Court and committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution on $168,000 cash bond.
There’s at least some comfort in the fact that, as appalling as Brownlee’s driving was, it was nothing compared to his shooting.