911 call leads to road rage arrest - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

A family's quick call for help may have saved them and other drivers after an unexpected road rage incident along Interstate 69 near the Madison-Delaware County line Sunday.

The family says they were driving home after Sunday's Colts game when a man in traffic with them lost his temper.  They say however the man didn't use profane language or a colorful hand gesture to show his anger.  His gesture had the family picking up the phone to call 911.

The call was placed by 18-year-old Cameron, a front seat passenger in a car heading up Interstate 69 near Muncie, after his family was caught on the receiving end the other driver's road rage.

"He looked like he was in a hurry to get somewhere," Cameron told Eyewitness News during a phone interview Tuesday night.  Cameron said he didn't want to give his last name because the incident had left him shaken.  At the time, he said, he actually feared for his family's life and the lives of other drivers on the highway when he said the man following them in a Lexus became enraged.

"He was driving completely erratically and cut us off," explained Cameron.

Cameron said the Lexus driver pulled right in front of his family's car.  He said it was so close that Cameron could see the man holding up a gun right in front of the rear view mirror.

"It was a semi-automatic kind of gun, silver on top, black handle," described Cameron.

Minutes after the 911 call, Indiana State Police said they pulled over 31-year-old Nathaniel David Michael and found a 40 caliber handgun on the front passenger seat.
    
Cameron told Eyewitness News he'd do the same thing again.  He had a message for anyone who ends up the target of somebody's road rage, for whatever reason.

"Don't encourage the behavior. And when someone's mad already, you don't want to encourage the situation and have something like that happen. It's not a good situation," advised Cameron.

Officers arrested Michael on preliminary charges of criminal recklessness and drunk driving.