Tesla Model S owner Chris Harklerod was returning from home from the Houston (Texas; USA) airport at about 8:00 p.m. when he said he saw a Ford pickup truck behind him whose driver was behaving aggressively.
Tesla’s rear-view camera footage shows the pickup speeding up, changing lanes erratically and driving, practically resting on the bumper of the electric vehicle.
Harklerod later told reporters that a Ford driver came to his open window and pointed a gun at him.
“At that point, I accelerated and tried to prevent him from overtaking me so he couldn’t open fire,” the electric car owner described the circumstances.
When the Tesla owner tried to cross the freeway, the Ford driver cut him off, forced him to stop, ran out of the car and fired several shots at the Model S.
Fortunately, the Tesla driver was not injured, although one of the bullets hit the rear window.
Video footage from the TeslaCam has been handed over to the police and used to identify the suspect. As a result, 32-year-old James Young was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a firearm.
Argument from the other side
However, it turned out that Young’s wife was in the car at the time of the incident and was also filming from the passenger seat of the pickup. The images from her smartphone clearly show that the Tesla driver herself had previously been hooligans and repeatedly “checked” Ford’s brakes before the shooting began.
Young’s lawyer took the images to court and demanded that the Tesla driver also be prosecuted. However, the prosecutor rejected the request, reasoning as follows:
“Under no circumstances is it allowed to resolve a traffic conflict using firearms. Based on evidence presented to the prosecutor’s office, the suspect was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm for shooting through the victim’s car. No criminal charges can be brought against the other party in this case».
Video: YouTube