Florida Woman Digging For Change At Toll Booth Rammed Repeatedly In Road Rage Incident
TAMPA (CBSMiami/CNN) - A woman digging for change at Florida toll booth led to a road rage incident that left her scared for her life.
It happened Friday afternoon, north of Tampa.
Caitlin, who didn't want to give her full name because she fears retribution from the driver, said she was driving to Jacksonville to visit a friend and wasn't familiar with the area. She said it took her a little time looking around her car and purse for change at the toll plaza. About a mile up the road, the driver of a Volkswagen Beetle, which had been behind her at the plaza, rammed her car.
"I was a hundred percent scared. I was frightened. I was scared for my life. It just happened so quickly," she said.
In a phone call to 911, Caitlin said she saw the VW in a gas station and pulled in to get insurance information. That's when, she said, he intentionally hit her again.
"He puts his car in reverse and rams me backwards at the gas pump," she said.
But it didn't end there. Caitlin said as the guy was leaving the parking lot, he ended up doing a u-turn and then t-boning her car. Surveillance cameras at the store show her frantic, asking for help.
Ellen Perry, who was at the gas station, said she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"She's looking at me, 'please help me if you saw something, please help me'," she said.
Caitlin said anyone who gets angry because they can't wait a few more seconds at a toll booth shouldn't be allowed on the road.
"Please keep an eye out for this maniac," she said. "I was trying to keep her up by the building because she kept pacing back and forth. But I was afraid if he came back and saw her in the middle of the parking lot, he might try to run her over or hurt her."
Florida Highway Patrol investigators pulled the vehicle registration from nearby cameras and tracked the car to a home in Tarpon Springs. Troopers are now trying to locate the driver.
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