BY ISABEL EVERETT
A 29-year-old woman has been arrested after ramming the car of a man known to her several times, during a road rage incident in Newcastle’s CBD on Friday morning.
About 6.20am, officers were called to Hunter Street near the Stewart Avenue Intersection in Newcastle, following reports a 55-year-old man had been hit and several vehicles had been damaged by a white utility.
The woman and the man known to her, reportedly got into an argument in the carpark of a KFC restaurant on Hunter Street earlier that morning, the cause of the argument is yet to be determined.
Police confirmed the pair are not in a domestic relationship.
Police say the man fled the KFC car park in a yellow Holden Barina, the woman pursuing him in a Ford Utility, allegedly ramming his vehicle a number of times on Honeysuckle Drive and King Street, Newcastle.
The man then reportedly attempted to do a U-turn and was rammed by the woman on Hunter Street, where he suffered minor injuries to his arm and was transported to John Hunter Hospital.
No one else was injured during the incident.
"Her driving was an abomination, extremely dangerous and put many lives at risk," Newcastle City Police Detective Superintendent Wayne Humphrey says.
"Some local workmen have tried to apprehend her and that was an appropriate thing to do but safely, and of course an innocent person driving through an intersection on a green light gets T-boned by this woman as she escapes."
A short time later, the utility was located on King Street. It has been seized for forensic examination.
The woman was arrested at around 9.15am at a nearby hotel, and is assisting police with their inquires.
She was charged with use offensive
weapon to prevent lawful detention, drive recklessly/furiously or speed/manner
dangerous, not give particulars to other driver and possess prohibited drug.
The Newcastle woman has been refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court on Friday.
As police continue their inquiries, officers are urging anyone who may have dashcam or mobile phone footage of the incident to contact police, as they are missing footage of the vehicles driving between Honeysuckle Drive and King Street.
"I have little concern for what occurred in that car park, but whatever happened it should not have culminated in that furious driving activity," Detective Humphrey says.
"What I'm looking at is the potentiality for people to die in the Main Street of Newcastle."
Police say they are speaking to those whose cars were damaged during the incident.
