2 arrested in Hemet road rage incident

An 18-year-old and 17-year-old have been arrested in connection to a street confrontation during which a man’s car was stolen and used to mow him down, inflicting serious injuries.

The incident happened just before 7 a.m. on Friday, July 11 in the 1400 block of Gilbert Street, according to Hemet police.

Officers released cell phone video Tuesday documenting the road rage incident, which was taken by a resident who witnessed the violent confrontation. After the video was released, officers received a number of phone calls identifying the suspects and they arrested a 17-year-old the very same day, according to the release.

Officers pulled the teen over in the 100 block of North Buena Vista Street and he was identified as one of the two suspects seen in the video. Police said he was taken to Riverside County Juvenile Hall.

Investigators identified the other suspect as 18-year-old Michael “James” Williams and they were searching for him for a couple of days until he eventually turned himself in at the Hemet Police Department Thursday at 7 p.m.

Police said Williams was arrested for attempted homicide and conspiracy. He was booked into the Riverside County Jail on $1,000,000 bail. Officers didn’t elaborate on the specific charges the 17-year-old is facing.

After the crime, Cpl. Gabriel Gomez described it as an “ongoing road rage incident” that culminated in the victim’s sedan being taken by one of two men in a white Ford Ranger pickup truck. A witness using a mobile phone camera captured the tail end of the encounter, as the victim, whose name was not released, lashed out at the driver of the pickup.

Video shows the victim’s white sedan accelerating into the frame and striking him, throwing his body skyward about 15 feet and landing a short distance away.

The assailant spends the next 20 seconds taking items out of the sedan and tossing them into the pickup, as well as retrieving several items from the street and placing them in the truck, before both men speed away.

The victim was found lying in the street by officers, who arrived moments later. Gomez said the man was in serious but stable condition, and his injuries weren’t believed to be life-threatening.

News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 will post more information as the case moves forward in court.