The man facing five charges after a road rage incident on Premier Road Monday says there is more to the story, and says actions reported in a police news release do not match what actually happened.
Dennis Rowe told BayToday that a fistfight that broke out during the event was self-defense.
See: Man facing five charges after road rage attack
Rowe says that around 3 p.m. he and his girlfriend had just finished taking their pet Lab to the dog park at the end of Premier. As they were driving north they saw an early model silver GMC Sierra driving in their lane.
"I attempted to move, and the other vehicle narrowly missed my driver-side mirror, and proceeded to give me the finger. I turned around to obtain the GMC’s license plate number. As I turned around, I noticed the driver of the GMC had abruptly stopped his vehicle. The driver began to approach my vehicle, at which point I attempted to exit my vehicle," said Rowe.
Upon exiting, Rowe says the driver of the GMC began cursing and yelling, “What the f*ck is your problem?”
Rowe says the driver was very close and aggressive,
"I lightly shoved him backward, asking him to step away from me and my vehicle, at which point he became more agitated and proceeded to get closer to me. At this point, I gave a second push, and he got closer to me again, refusing to give me my space. I pushed him away for the third time, at which time he swung with his right fist, and connected with the left side of my upper lip.
After he swung, he grabbed the middle of my shirt, threw a second punch, and connected with the top of my head, causing the sky to go white for me for a few seconds. At this point, I tried to step away from the situation, but he would not let go of my shirt, so I attempted self-defence.
After exchanging a couple of swings in an attempt to get him to let go of me, he tried to run back to his truck. I followed him up to his vehicle in an attempt to get him to remain at the scene as I wanted to contact the police. I grabbed onto his shirt telling him 'police are going to be contacted.' At this point, with my arm still in his vehicle, he put his truck into drive and sped off. He dragged me approximately 10-15 feet on the road before I was able to let go and remove my arm from the vehicle. I have road rash on my right shoulder and my right leg.
He proceeded to drive (south) down Premier Road. At this point, I was able to get up and head back to my vehicle, and I began to dial 911. I attempted to drive down Premier Road in order to obtain a license plate to give to dispatch so they could apprehend the vehicle."
At that point the GMC attempted to turn around, as Premier Road is a dead-end street.
"The driver of the GMC attempted to pull a U-turn using a resident's driveway. I positioned my vehicle in the road and came to a stop, in an attempt to stop him from fleeing, as I remained on the phone with 911. He proceeded to drive and hit the front of my black Ford F-150. He proceeded to reverse his truck in an attempt to get around my truck, at which time I adjusted my vehicle so he could not flee the scene, especially after hitting my vehicle head-on.
At this point, the driver accelerated and hit the front of my truck a second time. He proceeded to reverse his vehicle a third time in another attempt to flee, I adjusted my vehicle once again and came to a stop in another attempt to keep him at the scene. He proceeded to ram my truck again. For a fourth time he reversed his vehicle, and I adjusted again, coming to a stop.
At this point, he rammed the truck very hard causing the seatbelts in my truck to lock, and my girlfriend to scream out of pain from the impact. With our vehicles touching nose to nose at this point, he tried to accelerate a fifth time to push my truck out of the way. I slowly accelerated my vehicle at this point, pushing his truck gently backward into a shallow ditch, in an attempt to stop the ramming of trucks before things got worse.
Through all of this, I remained on the line with 911, screaming for help. With both vehicles in the ditch, the other driver attempted to exit his vehicle. I approached him in order to keep him at the scene, at which point a second, physical altercation occurred.
A bystander intervened at this point and separated the two of us, at which point I crossed the street where a lady offered me a chair and a bottle of water.
Police, fire, and ambulance arrived at the scene shortly after. My girlfriend, dog, and I were examined by paramedics and were advised about general soreness and body pain we may experience over the next couple of days. Police proceeded to begin taking statements from everyone, including my girlfriend. At this point I called my father to inform him of the situation, at which point I was approached by three officers so I immediately ended my call with my father.
The arresting officer stated I was being placed under arrest for dangerous operation, careless driving, and mischief under $5,000. They refused to let me speak with my girlfriend, refused to take my statement that I was willing to give, and put me in the back of the cop car to read me my rights.
After 10-15 minutes, I was informed I was also being charged with assault, and that I would be taken to the North Bay Police Station. I proceeded to ask the arresting officer to check on my girlfriend if she was okay, and to ask her to drive the truck home. I was then brought to the station and placed in cell 3. I was told they were going to start the paperwork and to sit tight. Within an hour of arriving, I was notified by the arresting officer that I would now be charged with assault with a weapon.
Once again, I inquired about giving a statement, and the officer stated that it may be done at a later time. I was given a Tim Horton’s apple juice and a ham and lettuce sandwich. The arresting officer returned in roughly 30 minutes to inform me that the release papers were being processed and that I would be leaving that evening.
I had no intention of allowing the situation to escalate as it did. I wanted to get the license plate number of a potentially intoxicated, dangerous driver as I’ve done in the past, which should be documented with North Bay Police, as I have reported several drivers in the past for unsafe driving. I understand my actions may not have been the best course to take, but I could not let this person speed down Premier Road at the risk of injuring/killing a resident or causing damage to someone’s property/vehicle."
Rowe says his girlfriend has a whiplash injury and a concussion as a result of his truck being rammed.
"Yeah, I lost my job now. My name's thrown out there. I got friends and family messaging me asking me 'What the hell happened? That's not like you.' It's not like me because that's not what actually happened."
Rowe says he feels bad for the surrounding residents.
"I'm sorry to the people on Premier Road. I didn't intend for any of this to get this bad. I know putting the vehicle in the ditch was not right, but I did not want one of their kids running onto the road as this guy sped off and killed someone."
