Witnesses describe scary moment man breaks car windows with hatchet in Boston road rage incident
Witnesses say that it was a scary moment to watch as a man took a hatchet and began to smash a car's windows in Boston on Friday.
"As soon as the guy with the hatchet showed up and started swinging at him. He ran down the street. I think it was just road rage," witness Matt Silva said.
Boston Police say the incident happened around 11:45 p.m. on Friday on Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton. The victim told police that he was driven off the road by a man in a pickup truck before he crashed into a tree.
Silva says he was coming out of Hen restaurant when he saw the man with the hatchet smashing the victim's windows, which sent the driver running for his life.
"He was scared out of his mind. He was screaming, 'I don't know what to do,'" Silva explained.
Video shows the victim sprinting away, before the suspect begins walking in the same direction with the hatchet.
"So he ran down the street about a mile or so, and the guy comes back smashing up his windows all over again, I think maybe two or three times that he came back smashing the windows," Silva said.
The driver was not seriously injured and denied further medical treatment.
Police identify suspect
Police said that the suspect fled the area towards Babcock Street.
On Tuesday, Boston police detectives obtained a warrant charging 27-year-old Andrew Oprian of Belmont with assault with a dangerous weapon and willful and malicious destruction of property.
"Just so scary. You should get out of your car and try to help instead of being so aggressive," said Fernando Silva, who manages the restaurant where the road rage incident took place in front of.
"I think that there's a lot of unwell people out there that are going around. People really need to kind of get a lid on it," Silva said.
Anyone with information is asked to call 617-343-4500.
