Man arrested in Westside road rage incident

Men in tow truck say they helped woman escape aggressive driver

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A tow truck driver and his friend are credited with saving a woman who appeared to be the victim of a road rage incident Sunday on the Westside.

A 30-year-old man was arrested in the incident and charged with DUI, assault with a deadly weapon and child neglect.

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, two men in a First Coast Tow truck spotted a female driver in a Nissan SUV being tailgated on Chaffee Road by a Toyota Camry, which was being driven by Joshua King.

"It was a scary situation," said Duncan Hrachovina, who was riding in the tow truck with a juvenile and his friend, Aaron, who was driving. "Thank God we got away."

The men told police a woman and child were in the Camry, and the child did not appear to be wearing a seat belt.

The men said it looked as if King was trying to run the woman in the SUV off the road, so they intervened and pulled their truck in between King and the SUV.

The maneuver worked, and the female driver managed to get away.

“We cut the guy off and let her pass us, and we cut the guy off so he could leave her alone. He got around us and then stopped in the middle of Chaffee Road and pulled a gun on us and had us at gunpoint," Hrachovina said. 

Fearing for their lives, Hrachovina said, the tow truck driver called 911 for help while he pulled his gun on King in an attempt to protect himself and his two passengers.

"He made sure it was locked and loaded, waiting for him to start shooting. We were going to shoot back," Hrachovina said. 

When police arrived, King led officers on a brief car chase that ended farther up the road, according to the arrest report.

Police confirmed a child was in King's vehicle at the time. Hrachovina said he was very troubled by that.

“The kid was on his knees watching his father do the whole thing. It’s crazy to me because that’s the worst way you can raise a child by letting them sit there and watch you hold someone at gunpoint," Hrachovina said.

The female driver never came back to the scene, but Hrachovina told News4Jax Tuesday that he has no doubt that the actions he and others took to intervene saved her life. 

"I do believe that we did the right thing by saving her and blocking him off to give her enough time to get away. I'm glad it was us in that situation and not her with no protection," he said.

King was arrested and booked into the Duval County jail.


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