A white Kentucky man was captured on video striking a Black woman with a blunt, belt-like object following a road-rage confrontation.
Tenaya Stanford, 20, said she was driving with her child on I-65 near Preston Highway in Louisville when the confrontation began. She alleged that a motorcyclist spat on her car.
Stanford told officers that she opened her vehicle door after the man allegedly spat at her car.
According to police body-camera footage obtained by WLKY, Stanford said the man “made it seem like he was about to hit me.”
She said she grabbed an object from her car for protection and swung at him but missed. The man then allegedly attacked her.
Stanford said the man seized her by the hair, swung her around and struck her repeatedly with a belt-like object. She claimed the assault continued until she began swinging back at him.
She also told police that the motorist pushed her against her car while maintaining a tight grip on her hair.
A white Kentucky man was filmed striking a Black woman with a blunt, belt-like object after a road-rage dispute.
Stanford alleged that the confrontation began when a motorcyclist spat on her car.
Tenaya Stanford, 20, said she was driving with her child on I-65 near Preston Highway in Louisville when a white Kentucky man allegedly struck her with a belt-like object.
The confrontation lasted just over two minutes. Bystanders honked their horns and recorded the incident on their phones, but no one stepped in.
Stanford described how the motorist allegedly tried to repeatedly stomp on her foot through the car door while pulling her toward him.
In an emotional account, Stanford denied tailgating the motorcycle and wept as she told officers, “He kept spitting on my car.”
“My baby is right here, I’m not about to put my baby in danger,” Stanford said.
The graphic footage sparked outrage in Black communities and renewed attention to racial tensions in the South.
As videos of the incident spread online, Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey addressed the public backlash.
At a news conference, Humphrey said there were “several versions” of the video that had not been shown publicly, warning that “a lot of misinformation” was circulating.
EXPLORE MORE: Florida Man Sentenced After Being Caught in Two Child Sex Stings
Additional surveillance footage recorded “across the street” appears to show what happened immediately before and during the confrontation.
In that footage, the man is seen getting out of his vehicle, prompting Stanford to stop her car as she pulled alongside him.
She had the option to drive to safety from the enraged man.
‘Both parties chose to leave their vehicles and have this physical interaction,’ Humphrey claims.
The interaction between the two, seemingly from the additional footage, began when Stanford swerved her car.
The man then drove closer to her to make contact with her vehicle.
He then walked away, and Stanford opened her car door. The man turned back to her, and she closed her car door.
She then repeatedly left the car again, which prompted the man to allegedly attack her.
He then shoved her inside her car, all according to Chief Officer Humphrey.
The man then walked away to his bike; in revenge, Stanford attempted to Taser the man and failed because it was broken.
The man then pulled up to the front of the intersection and stopped at the red light to make a left turn.’
She then pulled up to his lane and bumped the back of his wheel. Stanford then turned right, leaving southbound on Preston Highway, officially ending the interaction.
The chief described the incident as ‘adults making bad decisions.’
The Louisville metro police department is ‘actively investigating this incident,’ according to WDRB.
The Jefferson County Attorney’s Office claimed they will ‘review and either file criminal charges or not based on the totality of the evidence,’ in a statement they made to the public.