ARLINGTON, Wash. — A woman who tapped a car at a stop light was injured in a case of road rage that left her battered and bruised.
The victim, Tiffany Shadbolt, said she was taking her 8-year-old daughter home Sunday after a cheerleading competition in Tacoma.
Shadbolt said she took the Arlington exit off Interstate 5. At the stoplight she accidentally bumped the car in front of her, causing very little damage to either car, she said. She was planning on apologizing when the driver left his car and came back screaming.
"(He) came up to my vehicle and proceeded to kick the door and then it slammed into my face,” said Shadbolt.
Police said the man then did it again, though Shadbolt was bleeding badly. Shadbolt said she didn’t remember the second blow.
"I'm not sure. I think I might have blacked out and didn't realize it,” said Shadbolt.
During the violence, Shadbolt’s daughter hid underneath a blanket in the back seat of their car, Shadbolt said.
Police said at that point, three young men approached, stopped the driver and called police.
Trooper Keith Leary of the Washington State Patrol said the driver, identified as 58-year-old James Wozny of Arlington, turned Shadbolt’s car door into a dangerous weapon.
"To impact somebody, especially soft tissue on the face, it's going to be very damaging," said Leary. "It was a minor collision that did it, and turned into a very violent road rage situation."
Shadbolt said she has no idea how anyone could get so angry over such a minor accident.
"You hope everybody's nice, but sometimes I guess, people have bad days,” said Shadbolt, who described the attack as the “scariest day of her life.”
Wozny is charged with second-degree assault with a weapon.
Police said he man has no criminal record.
KIRO
