Advocacy & Safety - Fear blamed in I-94 rage

source (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070319/NEWS04/703190369/1001/rss01)

The Dodge Ram weaved closely behind her, following her from lane to lane.

Bernadette Houghton Headd -- who was enduring stress from caring for sick loved ones -- was convinced she would be run off the highway.

And she snapped.

Police say that Headd pulled her 1993 Chevrolet Cavalier alongside the pickup as the two vehicles traveled down I-94 in Harrison Township last month.

She then grabbed the 9mm pistol she's been licensed to carry for nine years, pointed it out of the window and fired at the tires of the truck driven by a New Baltimore man, police say.

The 39-year-old Macomb Township woman is due in Macomb County Circuit Court at 1:30 p.m. today before Judge Diane Druzinski on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm from a motor vehicle and using a firearm during a felony.

She was arraigned on those charges Feb. 22 in 41-B District Court in Clinton Township, stemming from the road-rage incident the previous morning. Her case was bound over to the county court for a pretrial hearing and arraignment. If convicted, she faces up to six years in prison.

When she was arrested, she told police, "I'm tired of people tailgating me."

But her mother said Headd was fearful during a trying and turbulent time in her life. She had been caring for her mother, who had a kidney transplant in December, and for her 18-year-old son, who had surgery in January for scoliosis, Del-Marie Headd said Saturday.

"When you're afraid for your life, I mean, what is it you're supposed to do?" she asked, defending her daughter who, she said, didn't intend to strike the truck.

Headd is a good shot, often firing at a shooting range once a month, her mother said.

"She was more or less trying to scare him off."

Law enforcement officials say there's no excuse: What if the stray bullet hit someone?

"We went out looking for the round along the roadway, but that was a morning with a lot of fog," Macomb County Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wickersham has said.

Like so many of the thousands of Michiganders licensed to carry concealed weapons, Headd got the gun so she would feel safe. She wanted to be able to protect her mother, who had been mugged, and her only son.

When someone licensed to carry a gun is accused of using it to commit a crime, the permit is automatically suspended pending a revocation hearing while the criminal case is pending, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office said.

While it's that type of handgun abuse that fuels the debate between gun advocates and gun control groups, Del-Marie Headd said recklessness is uncharacteristic for her daughter, who takes reservations for Spirit Airlines.

"She did a very stupid thing," her Madison Heights-based lawyer Leslie Kutinsky said, adding that he'd like to work out a deal since his client doesn't have a criminal record. "I feel bad for this lady, so I'm doing everything I can do to help her."

She's been held in Macomb County Jail in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

The driver of the Ram truck did not return calls for this report.

Del-Marie Headd said her daughter is upset by her actions.

"She's cried about it," she said. "We've all cried about it. But you know, stuff happens."


I bet the JAM in the Dodge Ram Pickup (hemi, no doubt) will think twice about tailgating again.
And shouldn't he also be arrested for assault with a deadly weapon?

I bet the JAM in the Dodge Ram Pickup (hemi, no doubt) will think twice about tailgating again.
And shouldn't he also be arrested for assault with a deadly weapon?

Yes, like her he should be arrested too or at least cited. I hope he thinks twice the next time.

Want to know how to get tail gaters off of you? I mean besides brake tapping. Start reaching around behind or next to your seat like you're looking for something. Pull your hand up in the shape of a hand gun & make sure they see it. They will back off right away. I've done this, works every time. I have yet to get a visit by the police. Even if I did, what are they going to do? Arrest me for posession of a "hand" gun?

"I bet the JAM in the Dodge Ram Pickup (hemi, no doubt) will think twice about tailgating again.
And shouldn't he also be arrested for assault with a deadly weapon?"

Are you serious?:eek: You take the word of one wacked out lady and want to arrest someone.:mad: And what do you have against Hemi's? If she was holding up traffic (implied by her admission/assertion) then they should add wreckless driving to the charges filed against her.:rolleyes:

Jeez

"Pull your hand up in the shape of a hand gun & make sure they see it. They will back off right away. I've done this, works every time. I have yet to get a visit by the police. Even if I did, what are they going to do? Arrest me for posession of a "hand" gun?"

Actually, in California, that's considered making a terrorist threat. Yes, they should arrest you. If someone wants to go faster than you, let them the f**k by. What the h*ll is your problem with that?

"Pull your hand up in the shape of a hand gun & make sure they see it. They will back off right away. I've done this, works every time. I have yet to get a visit by the police. Even if I did, what are they going to do? Arrest me for posession of a "hand" gun?"

Actually, in California, that's considered making a terrorist threat. Yes, they should arrest you. If someone wants to go faster than you, let them the f**k by. What the h*ll is your problem with that?

Often, tailgaters can easily pass if they really want to. But where would the drama be if you simply used your vehicle as a tool for getting from point A to point B ? It's so much more entertaining to follow inches behind someone's bumper flashing your lights, etc.

"I bet the JAM in the Dodge Ram Pickup (hemi, no doubt) will think twice about tailgating again.
And shouldn't he also be arrested for assault with a deadly weapon?"

Are you serious?:eek: You take the word of one wacked out lady and want to arrest someone

Presumably, people with spotless criminal records don't randomly shoot without reason.
As for Mr. Hemi, I've seen enough of them to know that they OFTEN are small-dicked, aggressive, arseholes.

Didn't the woman have the chance to stop and let the irritating SUV past? Seems like she had other options besides using deadly force.

Didn't the woman have the chance to stop and let the irritating SUV past? Seems like she had other options besides using deadly force.

Of course she did... I'm not advocating her actions, I'm simply empathizing with her frustration.
Tailgating should be a serious moving violation that is strictly enforced.

Get Mr. Hemi off the road.

"Pull your hand up in the shape of a hand gun & make sure they see it. They will back off right away. I've done this, works every time. I have yet to get a visit by the police. Even if I did, what are they going to do? Arrest me for posession of a "hand" gun?"

Actually, in California, that's considered making a terrorist threat. Yes, they should arrest you. If someone wants to go faster than you, let them the f**k by. What the h*ll is your problem with that?

I let them by, if I can. But if it is crowded traffic or on a 2 lane city street where they can not or are not allowed to pass I will not stand for them gating me. You sound like someone who habitually tail gates.

When I get tailgated, I just slow down to the minimum posted speed limit (or less if none is posted) until the jackass gets tired of playing.

Yes, like her he should be arrested too or at least cited. I hope he thinks twice the next time.

Want to know how to get tail gaters off of you? I mean besides brake tapping. Start reaching around behind or next to your seat like you're looking for something. Pull your hand up in the shape of a hand gun & make sure they see it. They will back off right away. I've done this, works every time. I have yet to get a visit by the police. Even if I did, what are they going to do? Arrest me for posession of a "hand" gun?
Keep using that technique and see how it works out for you :rolleyes:

**edit: But please, dear God please, don't anyone else ever do this :cringe:

Keep using that technique and see how it works out for you :rolleyes:

**edit: But please, dear God please, don't anyone else ever do this :cringe:

So far it has worked. I also brake tap. Sometimes I slwo down but not using the brake I just ake my foot off the gas & let my vehicle slow itself down. It is fun to see the front end of the gaters vehicle dip to because they have to hit their brakes in a panic when I tap mine just enough to flash the brake lights. I recently found out that turning on the emergency flashers works too, amazingly well in fact, they really back off then.

So far it has worked. I also brake tap. Sometimes I slwo down but not using the brake I just ake my foot off the gas & let my vehicle slow itself down. It is fun to see the front end of the gaters vehicle dip to because they have to hit their brakes in a panic when I tap mine just enough to flash the brake lights. I recently found out that turning on the emergency flashers works too, amazingly well in fact, they really back off then.

That fact that it works is entirely the point of why you should not do it.

As for Mr. Hemi, I've seen enough of them to know that they OFTEN are small-dicked, aggressive, arseholes.
Damn...I thought I was the only one that realized that.

I salute you sir!

When I get tailgated, I just slow down to the minimum posted speed limit (or less if none is posted) until the jackass gets tired of playing.

Thats what I do too, and on the 2 lane highway I match speed with the slow lane till the really annoying tailgater gets the message and backs off.

Didn't the woman have the chance to stop and let the irritating SUV past? Seems like she had other options besides using deadly force.

I94 there has multiple lanes. It is quite easy to pass slower moving vehicles. It has been reported that he was acting quite overly aggressive and threatening. More than regular road rage.
I drive home from work on I696 at 1am. It is 4 or 5 lanes wide in most places. I drive 5 over the posted speed limit in the extreme right lane. I am often tailgated by idiots who honk and flash their lights. They can easily pass since there are few other vehicles on the road, sometimes 1/2 to 1 mile behind us. I have even had aholes pass me using the right shoulder then cut me off when the left lanes are wide open.
I do believe her that she was afraid for her safety. She may have overreacted but he definitely needs to be prosecuted also.

Sorry lady,no more gun, no more car. you've proven you can't handle either one.Tailgating sucks but you can't just whip out your gat and let fly.Even in Detroit.

When she was arrested, she told police, "I'm tired of people tailgating me."

People fear tailgating sure, but her armed response was way off base, she could have yielded & allowed the tailgater to go by, even reported them for unsafe conduct to the police, anything but draw & fire.

From what she told police at the scene^^, fear was not her primary motivation, and she could not have been acting in self defense. She isn't qualified to carry a firearm and thankfully no one had to die, or put another weapon in the hands of criminals, to find that out.

Her mom was smart enough to know that fear would be a good defense, but after the fact, after her daughter expressed first frustration, not fear, is too little too late, just a mother trying to protect her young.

Presumably, people with spotless criminal records don't randomly shoot without reason.
As for Mr. Hemi, I've seen enough of them to know that they OFTEN are small-dicked, aggressive, arseholes.

So, how many dicks would you say you've seen in all?

Seriously, Mr. Hemi may or may not have been operating in a reasonable manner, but Ms. Carry-Concealed sure as sh@t was behaving in a wildly unreasonable manner. No amount of even the craziest tail-gating justifies escalation to shots being fired.

As for the hand "gun", I would never brandish a gun, fake or real, unless it was loaded and I was prepared to use it. Which would be just about never.

When I get tailgated, I just slow down to the minimum posted speed limit (or less if none is posted) until the jackass gets tired of playing.

Thats actually exactly what we were instructed to do in my drivers ed course I took (in TX).

Seriously, Mr. Hemi may or may not have been operating in a reasonable manner, but Ms. Carry-Concealed sure as sh@t was behaving in a wildly unreasonable manner. No amount of even the craziest tail-gating justifies escalation to shots being fired

I never said it was justified, just understandable.
She should have been arrested, and Mr. Tailgate should have been cited.

Arrest me for posession of a "hand" gun?
:roflmao: That's as funny as it's stupid.

She then grabbed the 9mm pistol she's been licensed to carry for nine years, pointed it out of the window and fired at the tires of the truck driven by a New Baltimore man, police say.
Well, she won't have to worry about driving any carsick loved ones around for quite a while.


.......Headd got the gun so she would feel safe......
Stupid reason to carry, that's not what a firarm is for. If she wanted to feel safe she should have bought a first-aid kit and a fire extinguisher. Carrying, especially concealed carries a heavy resposibility. Maybe she'll figure this out while she's in General Population.

Idiots like this are why law abiding gun owners have to fight to keep the Second Amendment to the Constitution intact.

Hopefully the Dodge driver cleans her out in civil court.

"Pull your hand up in the shape of a hand gun & make sure they see it. They will back off right away. I've done this, works every time. I have yet to get a visit by the police. Even if I did, what are they going to do? Arrest me for posession of a "hand" gun?"

Actually, in California, that's considered making a terrorist threat. Yes, they should arrest you. If someone wants to go faster than you, let them the f**k by. What the h*ll is your problem with that?

when there's multiple lanes, go the f**k on by...in another f*****g lane! if there's not room, who are you to tell me i have to move for you? you sound like you drive in my town, which is why i don't ride on main drags!

People fear tailgating sure, but her armed response was way off base, she could have yielded & allowed the tailgater to go by, even reported them for unsafe conduct to the police, anything but draw & fire.



The article says the guy was following her from lane to lane. She DID pull into another lane so he could pass. THAT'S why he should have been arrested and thrown in the same jail.
It's funny how ordinary citizens cannot fire at a vehicle assaulting them, but if several police officers can have a vehicle surrounded on foot, and the vehicle moves to get away, they can fill it with bullets even though they could have gotten out of the way, and THAT shooting is justified.

You guys will argue about anything involving a car.

You guys will argue about anything involving a car.

:roflmao: Ain't that the truth!

What the hell does this have to do with bikes? Thats why I come to this forum :rolleyes:

You guys will argue about anything involving a car.

I disrespectfully disagree. No we won't. :mad:

Yes, like her he should be arrested too or at least cited. I hope he thinks twice the next time.

Want to know how to get tail gaters off of you? I mean besides brake tapping. Start reaching around behind or next to your seat like you're looking for something. Pull your hand up in the shape of a hand gun & make sure they see it. They will back off right away. I've done this, works every time. I have yet to get a visit by the police. Even if I did, what are they going to do? Arrest me for posession of a "hand" gun?

On the other hand, that might just escalate the situation further and then buddy will up the ante. Writing cheques you can't cash is not always a good idea.