Video of SUV flipping over in road-rage incident results in arrest

A man was arrested and another could face misdemeanor charges after a viral video revealed a road rage incident that resulted in a vehicle overturning on a highway in Oceanside on Thursday afternoon.

California Highway Patrol officers initially believed the incident was a non-injury hit-and-run collision that occurred about 4:20 p.m. on eastbound Highway 78 west of College Boulevard in Oceanside.

The mobile phone video revealed otherwise (warning: strong profanity).

It’s unclear what led to the incident, but the video shot by another motorist shows a man standing on the shoulder and yelling at another man in the driver’s seat of a Ford Escape SUV.

The man standing on the shoulder appeared to spit at the driver inside the other vehicle. He then walked to a convertible BMW stopped in front of the SUV.

The Ford then pulled forward on the shoulder, sideswiped the BMW and flipped onto its side on the shoulder of the highway as the BMW drove away.

A video of the incident was posted on Facebook, and as of 6 p.m. Friday it had more than 7 million views and 157,000 shares.

CHP investigators became aware of the video after the initial investigation was concluded and were able to identify the BMW driver from the license plate.

A case involving the BMW driver, identified as a 33-year-old Vista resident, will be forwarded to the San Diego County district attorney’s office, the CHP said. He could face misdemeanor charges.

The driver of the Ford, identified as a 23-year-old Escondido man, was arrested and jailed in the Vista Detention Facility. He could face felony assault charges.

Eastbound Highway 78 was affected for approximately one hour during the investigation.

Warth writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.