COOK COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT — A man whose car was repeatedly rammed in a road rage incident on Morse Avenue last month said outside a courtroom Wednesday that he feared for his life after the other driver came at him "like a shark."
Buchi Okeke, the driver of a Toyota Camry, recounted the incident after real estate broker Martin Vigil faced a Cook County judge. Vigil is charged with misdemeanor assault, leaving the scene of an accident, criminal damage to property and a minor traffic infraction.
A trial was set for 1 p.m. on Aug. 3.
Ben Woodard says Okeke was shaken by the experience:
Okeke said he hasn't seen the surveillance video of the incident that went viral after it was first published by DNAinfo Chicago.
"I don't want to see it," said Okeke, 42, of Auburn Gresham. "It was too emotional."
Okeke, who works at a pharmacy in Rogers Park, said the March 16 confrontation began at the intersection of Broadway and Sheridan Road when Vigil would not allow him to merge to the left to avoid construction while traveling northbound on his way to work.
He said Vigil's 1997 Audi A4 scraped the side of his car after the two "exchanged words."
"For some reason he wouldn't let me through," Okeke said. "That made me irate."
Vigil, dressed in a suit and standing with his attorney outside the courtroom after the hearing, turned away from a DNAinfo reporter when asked to comment Wednesday.
But he said previously that he was the "victim of road rage" and said he was "defending myself."
Okeke said Wednesday that he began to pursue Vigil's car through Rogers Park before coming to a stop about 1:30 p.m. in the 1200 block of West Morse Avenue.
That's where Okeke got out of his car and began to kick Vigil's car.
Okeke said he was only trying to get Vigil's attention. But then the video shows Vigil ramming Okeke's car several times as Okeke unleashed a series of kicks and blows to Vigil's car, some with a steering wheel lock — at one point busting out the driver's side window.
"I was just defending myself and my car," Okeke said. "I'm not really that kind of person."
About a minute into the incident, Okeke can be seen in the video driving his car onto the sidewalk. He said he did so to keep it away from Vigil.
"He would have done more damage," Okeke said. "He thinks it's funny. He was laughing. Have you seen Batman and Joker? I couldn't believe it."
Okeke said he thought the judge would have resolved the case Wednesday and was disappointed the case was continued until August. His car remains damaged from the incident and will cost $3,000 to get fixed, he said.
Okeke said he just wants the ordeal to be over — and the damage paid for.
"I could have got killed," he said.
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