April 06--An investigation is underway into an apparent road-rage incident caught on video showing a limousine driver striking a Los Angeles motorist's SUV with a heavy object.
No one was arrested in the incident, but investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department's Van Nuys station are looking into it, LAPD spokesman Officer Drake Madison said.
"We are trying to bring this to a conclusion," he said.
The encounter between the two drivers began about 1:27 p.m. Tuesday on the northbound 405 Freeway, authorities said.
Shahnam Asbaghi told KTLA-TV that the limo driver was tailgating him, making him "scared and nervous," so he exited the freeway.
The chauffeur followed Asbaghi off the freeway and rear-ended him, he told the station.
Then things got even worse.
Police said the limo driver exited his vehicle and struck the other driver's SUV in the 100 block of Hart Street.
Asbaghi, a Northridge resident, told the station that the chauffeur punched his window four or five times, got back into his car and drove off.
But Asbaghi followed the driver to jot down his license plate number. When the limo driver stopped and confronted him, Asbaghi pulled out his cellphone and began taking video of the exchange.
That's when the driver appeared to retrieve an object from the trunk of his SUV and strike Asbaghi's driver's side window.
The chauffeur worked for the LA Private Car Service but was fired after the "troubling incident," the company said in a statement that did not identify the driver.
"We take the safety of our clients and fellow commuters we share the road with very seriously, and want to move on from this incident and work on renewing our reputation," the company said.
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