A warning to drivers everywhere: You never know who you might provoke on the road. Take the case of two women who were cruising on Interstate 80 in the Sierra foothills last Saturday.
An allegedly crazed woman behind the wheel of a pickup truck tried to run them off the road after the passenger either flipped her the bird or made some other kind of rude gesture, California Highway Patrol officials said.
The altercation started around 12:30 p.m. when the woman sitting shotgun in a white Mazda made the hand signal toward 50-year-old Dierdre Orozco as they passed between Auburn and Colfax, the CHP said. The move apparently sent Orozco into a rage.
She pulled in front of the Mazda and slammed on the brakes, forcing the driver behind the wheel of the car to stop, according to the CHP.
Orozco popped out of her truck, stormed over to the two women and pressed an ID card against their window, telling them she was a sheriff, which was captured on video after one of the women started recording the escalating incident. The passenger also called 911.
The women then sped off to get away from Orozco, who jumped back into her truck and continued after them, CHP officials said.
Shes swerving us off the road, the passenger shouts in the video.
The driver, who was clearly upset, cries out, Im fing freaking out. Dude, shes going to fing hit me.
Thats when Orozco is seen speeding past the women and sideswiping them, which forces them onto the shoulder of the road.
A CHP dispatcher directed the women to exit the interstate at Dutch Flat, where officers were waiting.
Orozco was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, obstructing an officer and reckless driving charges. She was booked into Placer County Jail, where she remains on $25,000 bail.
