UPDATE: Couple Describes Frightening Encounter with Oakland Hills Road-Rage Driver
OAKLAND (KPIX) -- Two of the three people who were targeted by an angry driver in an Oakland Hills road rage incident over the weekend on Tuesday talked to KPIX about their narrow escape during the terrifying encounter.
Paramedic Joseph Lax says a stranger likely saved his life Sunday evening. It was just before 6 p.m. on Girvin Drive in Oakland's Piedmont Pines neighborhood when Lax, his girlfriend Allyson Amaral and her sister Katie found themselves facing off with a road-raging driver.
Joseph's SUV and the silver Chevy Bolt nearly hit each other in the narrow winding roads of the Oakland Hills.
"He almost hit us because we were going around a blind spot and he rolled his window down and thought we were the ones in the wrong. He was cussing at us explicitly," Amaral told KPIX.
The driver of the Chevy Bolt drove away angrily but came speeding back as all three were out of their vehicle, missing them by inches.
"He had murderous intent at all times until he eventually hit me," Lax said.
The driver turned around again and came speeding down the hill for a third time.
Lax was busy ushering Amaral -- who is pregnant with their first child -- and her sister into the car. He didn't notice the Bolt driver coming back until neighbor and witness Jonathan Sanler shouted at him.
"All of a sudden the neighbor is yelling, 'Hey! Watch out!' He actually saved me, because he [the Bolt driver] would've hit me square on," explained Lax.
He still got clipped and was badly bruised from the impact that spun him so he fell to the ground. He shudders to think about what could've happened.
"He almost hit her and her sister and that's…" Lax said, trailing off at the thought.
Amaral watched the final attack play out from inside the car and was apoplectic when she saw Joseph go flying.
"I thought he was dead. My initial thought was Oh my god, he's dead and that just put me over the edge," she said.
While the Oakland Police Department still has not made an arrest in the case, the three victims and the witness were able to make out the Bolt's license plate number, which was provided to authorities.
