Image via en.bee-news.info

Philly police want to talk with the victims of a road rage attack caught on video. At the same time, they want to question the guy with a sledgehammer who went berserk, not only on the car, but one of the passengers.  Strangely enough, reports say neither party has notified police. Frankly, Mr. Sledgehammer should count his lucky stars an armed good guy didn’t punch his ticket.

The surveillance video shows an SUV driving into a parking lot and stopping. Moments later, a red pickup truck roars in and the driver hops out carrying a sledgehammer. For most folks, the second driver hopping out of his car should serve as a clue to exit stage right.  Add in a big hammer and even the not so high-speed, low-drag know to run.  Most riki-tik.

In this case, our SUV driver remained a little slow on the uptake. Mr. Pickup hefted the sledge and smashed the driver’s side window. Clearly, this rather crude display of toxic masculinity disturbed the occupants, likely causing a Code Brown moment for both driver and passenger.

More swings batter the vehicle as the SUV driver tries to drive away. Meanwhile, a panicked passenger jumped out to flee. That ill-considered action hurt him, but not as much as when Mr. Road Rage hit him with the sledge.

The AP has the story:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A road rage suspect seen on surveillance video hitting a man with a sledgehammer after smashing the windows out of a vehicle is being sought by Philadelphia police.

Video of the parking lot attack was posted online by the police department Wednesday. It shows the assailant exiting his pickup truck with a sledgehammer and busting out the driver’s side window of an SUV.

Here’s the video:

As renowned self-defense expert Andrew Branca will tell you, better to call 9-1-1 on a raging motorist than to flip them the bird. Drive to a populated area or better yet, a police station. At the same time, call 9-1-1 yourself.

From a tactical standpoint, stay away from parking lots or dead-end streets if pursued by a lunatic. Every second you delay them from attacking gives help another second to arrive.

As we all know, if things go south, you need options. If some someone with road rage tries to do some bodywork on you after attacking your car with a long club, you want to stand on the mantle of innocence if you’re forced to burn him down.

 

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41 COMMENTS

  1. Wow. Do people not realize we live in America? Headlines are full of people getting shot every day and this dude feels empowered enough to attack with a hammer?

    Some people are just too stupid to live.

    • Pennsylvania’s gun laws are pretty good, but “City of Brotherly Shove” is “special” enough to have their own laws. As you may have guessed, they are not more liberal about owning and carrying guns than the state laws.

      • It’s not really more difficult to get a carry permit in Philly than anywhere else in PA. For a while they wanted character references, but that requirement was dropped after the city lost a lawsuit.

    • That always surprises me too. You’d think they’d learn. People get shot for a lot less.

  2. I’m not certain I would’ve waited for my passenger if he was stupid enough to jump out…

    • And then after he bails out, he walks… WALKS… back to his friend’s suv and gets punched by Mr. Congeniality.
      Something tells me there’s a lot to this story we don’t know – which may explain why no police report has been made.
      🤠

      • Not only does the passenger walk, he walks RIGHT NEXT TO THE ATTACKER. Walking in the opposite direction would have been a much better idea.

        • Seriously. He was so blissed out that I actually wondered if they were chatting.

  3. They can’t enhance the video and get plate #s? They do it all the time on TV! 😉

  5. Frankly, Mr. Sledgehammer should count his lucky stars an armed good guy didn’t punch his ticket.

    It’s true. I’d have shot his ass. He would likely never swing a sledgehammer again.

    • Yep, vote shoot him. Come at me with a sledgehammer & see if you don’t get shot.

  7. I get carrying something to defend yourself with (you know some type of melee weapon), but who carries a sledgehammer in the cab of their truck?

    • I carry a scimitar in my car. However, it’s mostly just because I wanted a cooler looking machete.

    • Well, I carry a tactical tomahawk in my car, although not to commit road rage attacks.

      My three most anticipated uses for my tactical tomahawk are: fighting off a pack of wild dogs mauling someone, smashing a car window if there’s a baby left alone in a sweltering car, and some kind of zombie apocalypse encounter.

      Look, I’m not saying that the “smashing a car window to save a baby” thing is the MOST likely event. Let’s be realistic here. I’m just saying it’s in my top three to be prepared for.

      • The hot car scenario is why I have my gun. Also my scimitar, but my gun is on me at all times. It’s also got plenty of weight, lots of holster wear, and can effectively become a hammer with which I can smash a window to get at a baby or pet left in the car. Where I live, five minutes can be too long. Three minutes is plenty of time to wait and see if the owner comes back.

    • According to an ASP video, witnesses said the guy with the sledgehammer was saying that the other guy was screwing his wife. Reason enough for me to stay out of the fight.

  9. Ya’ know quite awhile ago I lived in Chicago. I was in heavy traffic I think on Belmont Ave. and right next to me a car full of Chicano bangers jumped out at a stoplight and proceeded to beat the s##t out of a dude behind. With baseball bats…probably honked at the scum. No cell phones then and I was unarmed(except my 19″ guns). With the extreme proliferation of gats 30some years later mayhap that would have a different outcome…or not. I sure wouldn’t venture a guess about sledgehammer boy-I’d blast his azz.

  12. Probably from jersey (no guns allowed there) as Philly is after all the city of brotherly love.

    • That’s probably Democrat N.J. State Senate President Steve Sweeney’s brother, he’s likely served his sentence from beating non-unionized workers at the under-construction Quaker meeting house before burning it to the ground and is again loose on the streets (google it)

  13. We need to “ban” sledge hammers “for the children” I mean if “it saves just one child’s life it’s worth it” right?

    • Well, blunt objects are used much more than rifles of any form so, yep, time to take on the carpenter’s union and its support of blunt objects. We must ban assault hammers.

  14. They probably did something to warrant that attack. However, even if you need to educate someone on their idiocy, usually a simple tap on the window and a carefully worded explanation or dressing down is in order.

  15. Lots of questions are popping into my head on this one. My gut feeling is this is more than a simple case of road rage. Wouldn’t be surprised if they knew each other, or if this was something on the order of a loan shark sending a message to someone behind on payments.

    Then again, maybe I’ve just watched too many gangster movies.

  16. Damn, Sledgehammer guy is also lucky that the driver didn’t slam his car into reverse and mow him down at the one minute mark. Guns are dangerous but getting crushed by a 3000 pound car will also ruin your day.

  18. Seems that the hammer swinger was a whole lot luckier than he deserved to be, in that nobody in the vehicle he attacked was armed

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