Wakefield police believe a wild crash caught on video Wednesday may have been the culmination of a driving aggression incident that began on I-95.
In the video, captured on Victor Oliveira’s doorbell camera, a white Toyota SUV and a black Toyota Corolla collide. The SUV, which had approached from behind, lands on the Corolla on just its two wheels on the driver’s side before crashing through a neighbor’s fence at the corner of Salem St. and Chapman Rd., leaving a mess of debris in their backyard.
When Oliveira heard the loud crash inside the car, he ran outside and began chasing the fleeing Corolla driver. Police later said the driver, a 38-year-old Marblehead man, had his license suspended.
“My adrenaline was pumping and I just wanted to see what the hell was going on,” Oliveira said. “Something told me to just chase the guy and see what the hell was going on, why he was running. And then it turned out I was jumping fences, running through backyards and basically the whole time we were running I was just telling him, ‘Why are you running?'”
Oliveira is known in the city as “The Good Boss” and supports the homeless and addicted with his charity “Good Project”.
When Oliveira approached the fleeing driver, he said he did not intend to stop him but to help him. The driver eventually stopped and waited for the police.
“I don’t want him to get in trouble for running away, walking away from the crime scene or whatever,” Oliveira said. “I’d rather he just face his problems. Kind of like I did. I got in trouble. I was in prison a long time ago and I reformed, and I’m doing the right thing.”
Wakefield police said the driver of the SUV, a 33-year-old man from Nashua, New Hampshire, was treated at the hospital for his injuries and will now face charges of dangerous driving and failure to follow road markings.
The driver from Marblehead is cited for driving without a license and leaving the scene of a crime involving property damage.
Residents of the house with the damaged fence told Boston 25 News they were grateful their children were at school and not playing in the backyard as they often did.
“We are just happy and fortunate that no one was hurt, especially not our children,” said Paul Pisani. “Property damage can be repaired, but our children cannot.”
Oliveira is also glad that the damage was not worse.
“Honestly, this makes me pretty angry because my family and I have kids, we have dogs and we cross the street all the time,” Oliveira said. “And I can only imagine that if this had happened 20 minutes earlier when we were crossing the street, we would all have been dead.”
The Good Project is hosting a charity comedy night at Prince Pizza on June 9th at 5 p.m. The $40 admission price covers unlimited pizza, and the proceeds will go to help the homeless and those suffering from addiction.
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