An alarming road-rage incident was captured on video Monday when an Army veteran, who suffers from PTSD, reported that a woman exited her vehicle and sprayed him in the face with pepper spray because she believed he was driving too slowly.
This altercation occurred around 9:30 a.m. on Wilson Avenue by the Vallejo waterfront. The area was recently equipped with “speed tables,” which are designed to reduce vehicle speed to 15 miles per hour in specific sections of a road that otherwise allows for 30 mph travel.
The individual involved, Joe Vallely, was driving a company bucket truck used for maintaining internet infrastructure for city departments when he noticed a Nissan Altima closely following and expressing impatience.
“The presence of speed bumps necessitates slow driving,” remarked Vallely, a father of two, to KTVU. He explained that he was already proceeding cautiously because of the road layout and the dimensions of his vehicle.
The situation grew more intense as both vehicles navigated the narrow, single-lane road.
“I noticed someone was tailgating me and flipping me off,” he said. “And I’m driving the bucket truck slow because it’s big and old and heavy.”
The situation boiled over when the road widened near Hichborn Street.
Vallely said the woman sped around him, cut in front, and slammed on her brakes, forcing him to stop suddenly while other cars were still behind him.
That’s when things turned violent.
Video recorded by Vallely shows the woman stepping out of her vehicle, approaching his work truck, and unleashing pepper spray directly into his open window.
“You scared? You should be scared b-” the woman says just before spraying him at close range.
Vallely immediately screamed in pain as the chemical hit his eyes.
“She got me directly in the eyeballs.”
“Ow!” he can be heard shouting repeatedly in the footage.
Despite the attack, Vallely said he did not engage with the woman at any point, instead trying to avoid escalation.
Blinded by the spray, Vallely somehow drove to a nearby liquor store to rinse his eyes before later receiving treatment at Kaiser Permanente for an eye flush.
Vallely, a process server, said the attack has left him shaken while simply doing his job on the road.
Authorities with Vallejo police say they believe they have identified the suspect and intend to forward the case to the Solano County District Attorney’s Office for review
The California Post contacted the Vallejo Police Department and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office regarding the investigation into the alleged attacker.