SILVER LAKE (CBSLA) — A dangerous episode of road rage was caught on cellphone video. The video has gone viral and no surprise there. Two vehicles on a Silver Lake road would appear more at home at a roller derby event. The incident happened at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Silver Lake on Thursday around 9 a.m. CBS2’s Jeff Nguyen reported from the scene where broken tail light pieces still dot the road. The LAPD is investigating what led up to the road rage. Cellphone video captures a Jeep Cherokee taking out the door of a Toyota Prius. And the Prius door goes flying and then gets wedged into the Cherokee. Hannah Doumitt had just opened up her barber shop. “I heard a bunch of cars honking and screeching,” Doumitt says, “and I step outside and I look over there and there’s a car driving off with another car’s door stuck to it. And some guy chasing it and kicking and punching the car.” Video rolled as the Jeep tried to drive off with the Prius still stuck to it. “Just a lot of cursing and screaming,” Doumitt says.”Angry words being shouted.” Witnesses said the man standing on the street was the Prius driver. He had apparently gotten into an argument with the Jeep’s driver. It appears that no one was injured from the collision. “A bunch of people got out of their cars and tried to help,” Doumitt says . The incident is being investigated by the LAPD’s Ramparts division. Police said it was too early to share any of their findings. They told CBS2/KCAL9 that they arrived on scene, saw evidence of an accident and exchanged information with both parties and left. Upon viewing that video (and surveillance video from Wood Pizza from a different angle), they now believe a crime occurred and are continuing their investigation. The cellphone video paints the Prius driver as the victim. The Wood Pizza’s video tells a different story. In this video, you see the Prius stopped at an intersection with the Cherokee behind it. The Prius driver gets out and appears to chuck something at the Cherokee. The SUV driver appears to try to get around the Prius but he makes contact with the car’s bumper. The driver of the Prius gets out again and confronts the Cherokee driver. “You can tell that pretty much the Prius driver, he was putting his hands on the SUV driver which completely changes the story ” says Wood Pizza owner Erik Martirosyan. He believed the Jeep driver was the aggressor when he first saw the video surface on social media. But he had a change of heart after scanning his own video. “Pretty much don’t judge the book by the cover, right?” he says. “You should just take a deeper look and see.” Nguyen spoke to the Prius driver who declines to comment. Nguyen reported the man driving the Jeep was working as the driver for a pot dispensary in Studio City. Friday afternoon, Nguyen spoke to the pot dispensary’s owner who said that man no longer works for him.
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Caught On Camera: Car Door Ripped Off During Dangerous, Wild Road Rage Incident
