Bad: Two men arrested after Hadley road rage incident (Western MA)

[Janq]

As reported in my local paper in The Daily Hampshire Gazette:

Two men arrested after Hadley road rage incident

By NICK GRABBE
Staff Writer

Monday, October 20, 2008

HADLEY - An apparent road rage incident Saturday resulted in the arrest of two men on assault charges after one threatened the other with a gun, police said.

Christopher G. Gunderson, 20, of 58 Trefry Lane, Stow, was driving north on Route 116 at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday when he reported that a vehicle was driving too close behind him, police said. The driver of the second vehicle was Paul Thomas Martineau, 33, of 50 High St., Turners Falls, police said.

Gunderson, a student at the University of Massachusetts, did a U-turn to avoid Martineau, who then followed him, police said. The two wound up going west on Route 9, turning north on North Maple Street, police said. At the stoplight at the intersection with Rocky Hill Road, Gunderson put his vehicle in reverse and rammed Martineau's vehicle, police said.

Martineau got out of his vehicle with a loaded pistol and ordered Gunderson to get out of his vehicle, police said. Martineau then called the police.

The two men did not know each other before the incident, police said.

Gunderson was charged with malicious destruction of property over $250 and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, police said. Martineau was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, police said.

The story can be found at; Two men arrested after Hadley road rage incident | GazetteNET

- Janq

Note:
This case is just damn stupid, by both parties involved.

The driver being followed should have dialed 911 and/or driven to the Hadley Police & Fire station which is right off of Rt. 9 maybe a mile from where he started out.
Or he could have simply driven to UMass campus maybe 3-4 miles down the road with dude following and roll right up to the UMass campus police building who have authority to work cases in and on Amherst town roads. Or drive straight down Rt. 9 another 2.5 miles and wind up right smack dab in the center of Amherst town and drive up to either the Amherst town police station, the town fire dept, or over to the Amherst College campus police building as well and they too have authority to work on town roads. Never mind that the MA state police work all up and down Rt. 9 day and night. And he drove right past the RMV on rt. 9 which always has a MA state popo on duty there. Instead dude decided to try ramming the guy in reverse. Where did he get that idea from? The Fall Guy?!
Now he has an assault charge with a dangerous weapon (motor vehicle) which will stick with him for a _lifetime_ and in MA precludes him from ever being able to exercise his 2A rights for life. Allover what, some guy riding his bumper. Oh, and it's likely his auto insurance won't cover his damages nor those that he made to t he other guys car which means he'll be writing that guy a check either directly or to his insurance company which will come after him personally for their monies owed. Stupid.

Then there is the other guy.
What the hell is he thinking. Aggressive driving first of all and then having the nerve to jump out of his car like he's T.J. Hooker and is pointing guns at people over a fender bender, which he himself aggravated to cause.
Bone heads the both of them.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[packin45]

Sounds like they're both a couple of geniuses. Hopefully they each get a little time in the crowbar motel, to reflect on their actions.

[svinfinity45]

Tailgating is a pet-peeve of mine, but I never would REVERSE into someone over it, even if they were following me. You never know who it might be, either the old lady who can't see properly, one of your buddies in his new car you didn't hear about yet, or that psycho tweaked on meth with a sawed-off looking for a target to fund his next hit.

Usually slightly pressing on the brake pedal so the brake lights activate without actually braking, while at the same time hitting the accelerator, makes the fact that you disapprove of the 6 O'Clock drivers actions pretty well, but that's also borderline escalation of the situation. If I pulled to the side and they did not pass, then I would dial the 5-0 and follow whatever directions they give me on how to handle the situation.

[JAT40]

I know the area and roads well, plenty of opportunities to properly defuse the situation. Mostly disappointed in the LTC driver, in this unforgiving state where the LEO's would be more than happy to relieve you of your licence, he should have known better. Now he is done, Bone-head.

[retsupt99]

You can't fix stupid...twice in the same incident.
Both of these Einstein's deserve punishment...and it sounds like it's about to come to both of them.

[grady]

Somebody should have been studying tactics and scenarios instead of watching too much t.v.

[goldshellback]

You can't fix stupid...twice in the same incident.
Both of these Einstein's deserve punishment...and it sounds like it's about to come to both of them.

One is a Student a UMass too.......just a pair of brilliant individuals

[Rock and Glock]

Bone heads the both of them.

Good summary.

[FN1910]

Just when you think stupidity has reached it's limit someone proves you wrong.

[archer51]

I know the area and roads well, plenty of opportunities to properly defuse the situation. Mostly disappointed in the LTC driver, in this unforgiving state where the LEO's would be more than happy to relieve you of your licence, he should have known better. Now he is done, Bone-head.

Both are idiots and deserve whatever they get. Hopefully a jail cell together.

Nothing in the article says the driver had a LTC, and I'm sure the press, especially in MA would have pointed it out if he did.

[carver]

Tailgating is a pet-peeve of mine, but I never would REVERSE into someone over it, even if they were following me. You never know who it might be, either the old lady who can't see properly, one of your buddies in his new car you didn't hear about yet, or that psycho tweaked on meth with a sawed-off looking for a target to fund his next hit.

Usually slightly pressing on the brake pedal so the brake lights activate without actually braking, while at the same time hitting the accelerator, makes the fact that you disapprove of the 6 O'Clock drivers actions pretty well, but that's also borderline escalation of the situation. If I pulled to the side and they did not pass, then I would dial the 5-0 and follow whatever directions they give me on how to handle the situation.

Like you, I can't stand being tailgated! I try the brake lights first, if that doesn't work I turn on my right turn signal, and slowly slow down, and pull to the shoulder, letting them go on their way. If I see that they are pulling over behind me I will be the first one out of the car. If it turns out to be an LEO, I'm good to go. If not, they had better think twice before getting out to confront me, I'll be ready. So far I've only had one car pull in behind me, turned out to be a dumb LEO. I say dumb because to this day I don't know why he was tailgating me, and have no idea why he stopped, and got out of his car! After questioning me some, "Have you been drinking", my reply was no, he then asked if I had been wearing my seat belt, I told that I was, he then got back in his car and left. I was left standing there with my drivers lic. and CCW permit in my hand. Maybe my car fitted the discription of someone that the law wanted, I don't know.

[Janq]

Both are idiots and deserve whatever they get. Hopefully a jail cell together.

Nothing in the article says the driver had a LTC, and I'm sure the press, especially in MA would have pointed it out if he did.

Correct, times two.

I saw this story hit my local town paper several days ago but purposefully held off on posting it because I figured there would be an update _and_ revelation that the gun guy had an LTC-A (only lawful means to 'carry' in MA).
But it's been days now and the only update was the next day a brief paragraph reaffriming that they both had been arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon....which is IMHO appropriate.

If it happens to be updated down the road with a court case summary I'll come back and bump the thread.
This is the fourth such citizen carrying a firearm acting like a bonehead incident I've noted for this immediate area (Hadley, NoHo, Amherst, Belchertown) this year.

- Janq