Occurred on June 11, 2021 / Watford, England, UK
Info from Licensor: The incident happened at around 12.45 pm on Friday afternoon (11/06/2021) on Chequers Lane, Abbots Langley near Watford.
It appears the driver of a black BMW made an error and overtook a vehicle stopped to allow a van to pass by, which resulted in a full-scale argument between the occupants. Jason Boggeln, the driver that was stopped at the side of the road, couldn’t believe what was happening and started to film the altercation on his mobile phone. As the clip begins the mother in a distressed state runs over to the passenger side of the white Ford Transit, she reaches into the vehicle where her partner is and appears to retrieve a bag. The argument continues with everyone prancing around and shouting, one man has a spade in his hand that he threatens to use as a weapon several times. Once the man and woman are back in their car ready to drive off, the man with the spade smashes the rear window apparently showering the mother and newborn baby in glass. The father gets back out of the vehicle examining the damage and holding his arm, whilst off-camera the men in the van drive off as the clip ends. Mr. BoggeIn, a home surveyor then went to the aid of the couple and it was when he realized there was a newborn baby in the rear of the vehicle covered in glass but uninjured. Images taken later show Police officers and paramedics on the scene and the extent of the damage to the rear of the BMW. Speaking today Jason, 32 said:
'I was on my way to work in the new company vehicle that I’ve had for 2 weeks and I’m still a little nervous. I saw the van was struggling to pass another car prior to the event so I reversed as tight as I could to the hedge/bank and put my wing mirrors in so he could pass. Then the BMW overtook me slowly, perhaps they thought I was making a delivery or something. As he overtook, the van stopped suddenly and the passenger got out very angry. Then I saw an altercation where a guy was threatening to hit the driver of the BMW. The boyfriend apologized to the other driver with a hand gesture, however, things escalated and got worse and he hit him through the window. He later got a shovel from his van and smashed the back window screen of the car and there was a baby in the back of the car. I had my aircon blasting, windows up, and had music blaring so I didn’t realize there was a baby in the car until I got out after the back window was smashed and I heard the baby crying. I ran over and saw the baby and the car seat covered in class, it went everywhere the baby was crying and it was horrible to witness. It was horrible to witness even before knowing there was a baby in the car, both parents were apparently screaming ‘we have a baby leave us alone’ so there is no way the guys in the van didn’t know about the baby. The baby was okay but his dad was beaten and I think he had a broken hand, I had to go to the police station and give a statement and give copies of the videos. People need to have a little more patience and take care on the road, anything can happen, literally!'