Video Shows Florida Driver Take Out Motorcycle Rider During Road Rage Fight
The search continues after a driver was recorded ramming a sportbike off the road and injuring the rider.
Police in Florida are on the hunt for a road-raging driver who was filmed ramming a motorcyclist into a utility pole during a dispute on a Sarasota street on Sunday, the Herald Tribune reports.
Recorded by a witness in a third vehicle, the video shows a Suzuki GSX-R1000 sportbike and a Mazda 3 hatchback running side by side along a two-lane stretch of road. The motorcyclist is already gesturing wildly at the driver; like the last car-on-bike clip we featured, whatever sparked this dangerous feud happened off camera.
Similarly, this video also ends in a horrible, completely unnecessary crash. After a minute, the biker veers towards the Mazda and takes a halfhearted swing at one of the windows. It's not clear whether he actually makes contact, but the driver responds by immediately ramming him off the road. Caught between the car and his tumbling bike, the rider is dragged for a few seconds and narrowly misses being smashed into a metal utility pole at speed.
The man on the bike has been identified as 33-year-old Darin Hendrickson, who somehow escaped the violent crash with road rash and a few broken ribs, according to the Herald Tribune. Hendrickson told the newspaper that someone in the Mazda had thrown loose change out the window while driving, which ended up striking his helmet and bike, and that he was only trying to get the driver to pull over.
Whether or not that's true—the Herald Tribune also reported that Hendrickson has a lengthy record of traffic violations over the last decade, including leaving the scene of an accident—it's never wise to confront another driver like this, especially without the protective sheet metal of a four-wheeled car. The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office says it's investigating the confrontation as an “aggravated battery incident" as officers continue to search for the driver involved.
"I want justice served," Hendrickson told the paper. "I lost my ability to have transportation. I can’t take care of my responsibilities."