GojuBrian said:
What made this guy go off? Why did he not care if he killed someone or even someone's child? What the heck is wrong with people?
Who knows, some people are idiots! Maybe he was fighting with his girlfriend, and then decided to redirect that energy towards you? I've seen that sort of stuff happen often enough in the area where I work!
Yeah OK, the guy was a first class jerk, but other than cursing at you, did he threaten you? Did he say he was going to kick you a**? Did he point a gun at you?
I think this guy was clearly threatening to the OP, even if he didn't utter words to that effect. The OP said the guy was yelling at him, and that he essentially kept "bluff charging" the OP's car, with his girlfriend trying to restrain him. There was definitely a threat here, though it wasn't yet a deadly force situation (not that the OP was saying that anyway).
I don't think that applies on private property - the police can't site you for 'speeding' or running the stop signs in a parking lot, so I doubt they'd have much recourse to do anything other than follow him and wait for him to screw up.
Well, around here we do have some leway on private property. Reckless driving, careless driving, and DUI can all be cited on private property. But, we have to observe the violation, and can't cite on a 3rd party complaint, under most circumstances!
Still, the Walmart in my jurisdiction has cameras EVERYWHERE! I probably would have at least checked the security tapes to see what happened, as that has helped me solve crimes on numerous other occasions at that location... In short, the reckless driver still may have been cited just based on the evidence I could obtain from the video camera; in that case the OP would have been listed as a witness on the summons!
Still, I think the OP did the right thing by calling the police! This guy was out of control, and I'd have contacted him if I was the officer who received the call. Lets recap here:
1) Nearly ran someone over while recklessly driving through a parking lot.
2) Disturbed the peace of the OP by repeatedly charging his car while screaming obsenities (and potentially putting the OP in fear of bodily injury).
Yes, during all the yelling he did threaten to "kick my a$$" several times.
With that additional clarification, I could have certainly pursued charges against the other driver. Certainly a threats or disturbance of the peace charge could apply, but I believe that misdemeanor menacing would also potentially be applicable, given the subject's physical actions, coupled with his verbal threats (obviously I'd need more info from the OP):
"A person commits the crime of menacing if, by any threat or physical action, he or she knowingly places or attempts to place another person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. Menacing is a class 3 misdemeanor, but, it is a class 5 felony if committed:
(a) By the use of a deadly weapon or any article used or fashioned in a manner to cause a person to reasonably believe that the article is a deadly weapon; or
(b) By the person representing verbally or otherwise that he or she is armed with a deadly weapon."