Just a heads up to be aware of your surroundings, not that this poor fellow could have foreseen the coming events.
Reported on the evening news just now.
The stretch of US 281 between Encino and Edinburg is a pretty desolate 50 mile stretch of highway with no towns (at least none w/law enforecement agency). The TV video showed the late model Ford PU driven by the victim to have collison damage to rear bumper (no mention if this occured during the chase) and broken driver side window. They showed a diagram indicating the three cars in wait hemmed in the Ford PU on three sides w/the silver chase PU closing the fourth side.
I'm sure the driver would have thought the perps were shooting at him when the hook (pictured on TV; I would guess it to weigh a couple of pounds at least) broke his window.
If I had to guess, I would suspect this was probably a case of mistaken identity and drug related, but that's just a guess.
Had the victim been armed, I would expect a slightly different ending.
They'll probably get the video up later.
Quote:Couple Attacked on Highway 281
May 2, 2012 6:23 PM
EDINBURG, TX -
A couple says they were attacked while driving on Highway 281.
"I feared for our lives. My wife is pregnant," said a man we'll call "Jose."
"Really what I was thinking, ‘This is it.'"
The two were traveling from Houston and headed back to the Rio Grande Valley last Friday. It was after midnight and they were driving down South Highway 281.
"Jose" told us a silver truck pulled up next to his and the driver seemed to want to race him. "So I sped up, left him behind and he caught up again," said "Jose."
He said this started in Brooks County in Encino, and for the next 35 miles, he tried to shake the mysterious driver off. "Jose" then spotted three other vehicle parked ahead on the side of the road.
"They were just waiting for us. They were just waiting for us to pass," he said.
One the couple did, they were boxed in by the three vehicles and the pickup.
"I thought they were shooting at me, when the window broke," he recalled. Plastic wrap now protects his driver side window. "Jose" said it was shattered by a black metal hook.
His wife said she was frightened and started hyperventilating. She managed to calm her nerves and call 911.
"It was very difficult, because they couldn't understand what I was saying. I was speaking as clearly as I could. But with all of the wind coming in from our broken window, it was just impossible," she said.
Relief set in as they approached Edinburg.
"That's when I just lost them. I thank God I did," said "Jose."
He filed reports in Brooks and Hidalgo County. He called in one license plate number. Investigators are now following up.
"If he would have stopped, God knows where we'd be today," said his wife.
The couple said they have no idea why they were targeted. They hope their story serves as a warning for other drivers.
http://www.krgv.com/news/couple-attacked-on-highway-281/
Regards,
hm
