MONROE, Wash. — A woman was hospitalized and a driver was jailed after a driving maneuver escalated into road rage Tuesday morning in Monroe.
Brandi Troka said the incident happened while she was driving to work with her boyfriend. Her 3-year-old son and her boyfriend's 4-year-old daughter were buckled in the back.
Troka said she pulled in front of a pickup, not knowing it would anger the driver.
"My boyfriend was in the front seat and he said, 'That guy flipped us off, so I flipped him off,'" Troka said. "And I'm like, 'Why'd you flip him off?' So I lectured him for a little bit."
Police said when both cars pulled up to the intersection of Fryelands Boulevard and State Route 2, a fight broke out.
Troke said the truck driver jumped out and threw punches at her boyfriend.
"I'm holding him against me and screaming, 'I have kids in here, stop it! Stop it!' and the kids are screaming," she said.
Troka got out of her vehicle to stop the truck from leaving. Police said she was hit and dragged for a short distance before she let go. She was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
"My hip hurts really bad, all up into my back," she said. "I hit really hard on my left side."
Two detectives were on their way to work and saw what happened.
"That was just a coincidence that they were in the right place," said Debbie Willis with the Monroe Police Department.
Troka said her 8-year-old son also passed the scene on his school bus.
She said the incident still doesn't make any sense to her.
"I told him over and over, 'There are kids here,' and then he dragged a mother down the street -- over road rage?" she said.
The 40-year-old driver accused of striking Troka was arrested by the two detectives who witnessed the incident, police said. He was in jail Tuesday night on a fourth-degree assault charge. His first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.
KIRO
