6 July 27 - August 2, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Less Aggressive? Dallas road rage incidents down to begin 2023. BY KELLY DEARMORE O n June 27 an image of a man holding another man at gun- point on the side of a freeway in the Dallas area began mak- ing the rounds on social me- dia. The man on the left side of the picture, wearing dark cargo shorts and a blue shirt, had the weapon trained on the other man, who was backed up against the side of a ve- hicle with his arms outstretched. Another vehicle a few yards beyond the man with the gun had a badly damaged rear bumper. This specific scenario might’ve been unique, but the cause behind it was anything but. This confrontation was yet another ex- ample of road rage in North Texas. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Christiano Pinheiro De Abreu pulled a gun on a man after “road raging” and striking the other vehi- cle with his own. De Abreu was appre- hended and no injuries were reported, but in recent weeks, plenty of other road rage stories in this part of the state have ended differently. On July 10, Paola Nunez Linares was killed after being shot in the head during a road rage incident in Hurst. Linares’ hus- band, Zane Jones, detailed the events lead- ing up to the shooting to CBS 11: “I completed the pass. I got into the right lane, and he started to zoom past me, but then he leveled off when he got to me, and he like moved over, like pushing me but not touch- ing me because I moved over too.” The re- port continued: “That’s when Jones says he flipped off the other driver. He thought the driver was returning the gesture – and then realized it was a gun.” An uptick in road rage incidents isn’t unique to North Texas. In 2022 Houston also experienced a sharp rise in reported road rage shootings and incidents, and those numbers remain high. San Antonio has also experienced a high number of these con- frontations. Some suggest the pandemic has made people more prone to road rage. Understandably, road rage incidents of- ten become headline news. Type “road rage dallas 2023” into the search bar of your choice and you’ll see a trove of links from the past few weeks describing a large number of recent problems. This isn’t a new phenomenon. The rash of road rage incidents across North Texas became so pronounced that in April 2022, several agencies from the region teamed up to form the North Texas Road Rage Task Force. “Over the last several years, police de- partments across the country have seen an increase in the number of road rage inci- dents,” DPD Assistant Chief Michael Igo said at a 2022 introductory press conference for the task force. “Here in Dallas, it’s hap- pening not only on our freeways but also on the streets that connect directly to the roads where people live and work. Unfortunately, aggressive driving has become common- place, and that driving is leading to aggres- sive acts.” But in a potentially positive, somewhat surprising twist, the Dallas Police Depart- ment says that road rage incidents, in Dallas at least, are down quite a bit this year com- pared to 2022’s data. “As of May 3, 2023, we were down 26.4% total offenses related to road rage and down 28.1% aggravated assault offenses related to road rage,” said DPD Senior Corp. Brian E. Martinez. Numbers since May 3 have not been available due to the outage caused by the recent ransomware attack. According to Martinez, there were 303 road rage-related offenses in 2022 between Jan. 1 and May 3, and this year, 223 such of- fenses during that same time period. The DPD didn’t comment on whether it believes the task force has had a hand in the decrease so far this year, but Martinez did explain the task force’s mission. “The task force works to reduce the num- ber of road rage incidents, aggressive drivers and impaired driving,” he said. “The Dallas Police Department conducts monthly oper- ations targeting aggressive driving in an ef- fort to decrease the number of incidents and make our roads safer.” Martinez later added that monthly task force operations focus on areas that have seen upticks in what he called “aggressive driving.” The tricky part of any attempt to curb road rage is its unpredictable nature. Flashes of an- ger that lead to altercations typically happen in an instant. And because right now, every- thing is somehow connected to the histori- cally hot weather, DPD says that 38% of all road rage incidents take place during the summer months. It shouldn’t come as a sur- prise that oppressive heat can help cause su- preme crankiness behind the wheel. While it’s a step in the right direction that road rage incidents this year were initially down from 2022, again, those numbers rep- resent what DPD knows before the scorch- ing temps arrived. For now, Martinez says a driver’s best bet is “to drive carefully, follow the laws and rules of the road and be courte- ous to other drivers.” As for how one should act if they find themselves in a possible road rage scenario, Martinez also provided some tips. “Safely change lanes and stay away from the aggres- sive driver,” he explained. “Don’t respond to any aggressive behavior that could escalate the situation; don’t stop. If followed, drive to the nearest police station or call 911.” ▼ PUBLIC SAFETY EXPLOSIVE HOLIDAY DALLAS LIT A LOT OF ILLEGAL FIREWORKS ON JULY 4. BY SIMONE CARTER I t’s already been well established that pur- chasing, possessing and popping off fire- works in Dallas is against the law. But judging by certain North Texans’ actions this past Fourth of July, apparently not ev- eryone cares. City officials tried to dissuade folks from celebrating the holiday with sky-booms. Yet revelers in Downtown Dallas could see col- orful — and illegal — fireworks displays “in all directions,” according to a newsletter from Downtown Dallas Inc. Dallas Fire-Rescue recently sent a memo to the mayor and City Council summarizing the extent of responses to potential fire- works use. To be sure, people still flouted the law this year, but it wasn’t all bad news: DFR saw some improvements compared with 2022. “[T]his year represented a slight decrease in the call volume involving fires in struc- tures,” the memo reads. “While this may be attributed in part to the holiday falling on a Tuesday, credit for this decrease must also be given to our Inspections and Education teams for their efforts in prevention cam- paigns.” Far fewer grass fires ignited this July 4 than during 2022’s holiday, which fell amid drought-like conditions. There was an up- tick in trash fires, though: 18 versus last year’s 12. Five illegal fireworks citations were is- sued this year, according to CBS Texas. Au- thorities also confiscated a hefty haul of fireworks: nearly 1,310 pounds, compared with some 983 pounds last July 4. Overall, DFR and the Dallas Police De- partment fielded fewer service calls this year. But while many Dallasites enjoyed celebrating America through patriotic ac- tivities (cough, fireworks), the holiday ended terribly for others. Fireworks Set Dallas Homes Ablaze Several structures in Dallas caught fire be- cause of illegal fireworks. Dallas resident Carolette Barnes told FOX 4 that her town- home was razed when fireworks set it ablaze. At around 10 p.m. on July 4, Barnes heard a strange popping noise. She initially figured it was hailing outside but the noise soon grew louder. When Barnes opened her curtains to peer out of the window, she “saw orange and red” and realized that her home was on fire. “Looked like a picture of what hell looks like,” Barnes told FOX 4. Barnes said she tried phoning 911 multi- ple times but couldn’t get through. After making three back-to-back calls — the last of which kept her on hold for more than two- and-a-half minutes — a neighbor was finally able to connect with emergency services. More than 1,050 calls about illegal fire- works were reportedly made to DPD this July 4. Fourth of July Shootings On and around Independence Day, a scourge of mass shootings erupted nation- wide. One in Fort Worth claimed the lives of three people and injured at least eight others the night of July 4. Kyrie Barnes (no apparent relation to Carolette Barnes) was mortally wounded on July 2 when he was struck by a stray bullet, according to FOX 4. DPD believes that cele- bratory gunfire — another illegal offense — was to blame for the 7-year-old Dallas boy’s death. The bullet had pierced through the wall of Barnes’ second-story apartment while he lay on his mother’s bed, WFAA reported. The young boy died at the hospital several days later. Nearly two dozen mass shootings oc- curred nationwide between the evening of Friday, June 30, and 5 a.m. the following Wednesday, according to ABC News. Twenty people were fatally shot and 126 others injured across 17 states and Wash- ington, D.C. | UNFAIR PARK | Andrew Holt/Getty Images Road rage incidents might be decreasing in Dallas. >> p8
