Ex-cop Suspected in Road Rage Incident

Anthony Corrales

This story has a LOT of gray area. (http://www.nydailynews.com/…/nj-man-rides-hood-nypd-car-law…)

According to Anthony Corrales, he was driving with his wife and 10-year-old daughter near Resorts World Casino in Ozone Park last June when he claims another motorist refused to allow him to change lanes.

OK, first off, no one has a right to "change lanes" and cut in front of another driver. The law is clear that we must "merge safely," which means leaving significant room (more than a car's length) between you and the car your merging in front of. A lot of selfish people today seem to think that turning on your turn indicateor gives you some non-existent "right-of-way." A "right-of-way" that they themselves are often reluctant to give.

The other driver, Robert Muller, turned out to be a retired cop, who also had his wife and child in his car, and wouldn't allow Mr. Corrales’ Acura sedan to cut in, causing Mr. Corrales to slam on his brakes.

“We almost crashed into him and the car behind me almost crashed into me,” Corrales told the Daily News.

OK, that seems to indicate that Mr. Corrales was NOT merging safely, lawfully or appropriately.

Corrales said he got out of his car at a red light to write down Muller’s license plate number — Muller later told police that Corrales followed him into the casino parking lot — and then it really escalated.

According to Mr. Corrales, “He (Mr. Muller) turned the wheels and I heard wheels screeching. He hit me with the car and took off with me on the car and he was going very fast."

The available video shows this, but NOT what led up to the "wild ride."

When he returned to the scene of the original confrontation, cops arrested Mr. Corrales for menacing, harassment and cracking Muller’s windshield.

Mr. Corrales’ suit contends that a casino surveillance video contradicted Muller’s account that he jumped on the car hood after stating, “Get out of the car tough guy.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/…/Retired-NYPD-cop-mows-man-driv…

At this point, we don't have enough information to make an informed judgment on this. IF Mr. Corrales tried to cut in front of Mr. Muller, then got out of his car....to "get Muller's license plate #".... OR (perhaps more likely) to confront the guy who wouldn't let him cut into that lane?

Does it make sense that a driver would get out of his car to get the license plate # of a car that wouldn't let him cut in front of him? Improper lane changing IS a crime. Cutting in front of other cars DOES (rightly or wrongly...I think RIGHTLY) piss other drivers off.

So....IF Mr Corrales DID jump out of his car and seek to confront Mr. Muller, then the "road rage" seems to be primarily and predominantly on Mr. Corrales part. When you get out of your car to physically confront another driver, you run the very possible risk of being run over, or worse. Just as the other driver has no obligation to let you cut into another lane improperly, that driver doesn't have any obligation to give you a "fair fight" either.

It'd be intersting to see the entire video....even better would be a video of what occurred on the road leading up to this encounter.

IF Mr. Corrales tried to cut directly in front of Mr. Muller, then got out of his car, he was almost certainlygetting out of his car because he was angry and looking to confront the other driver. THAT sort of thing rarely ends well. If that's the case here, I really don't think Mr Corrales has much of a case for "false arrest."