Road rage in Austintown leads to assault case

AUSTINTOWN -- Police said road rage led to an assault in the parking lot of a township video store.
The victim, a 24-year-old Youngstown man, told police he and his girlfriend were followed into the store parking lot after the suspect tailgated them on Kirk Road around 11 p.m. Monday.
The victim told police his girlfriend was driving when a silver Jeep began the tailgating. It finally passed them in the center turning lane but almost ran them off the road, the report says.
The victim said his girlfriend pulled into the lot of Family Video and parked, and the suspect followed and stopped his car in the center of the lot.
The two men got out of their cars, exchanged words, and the suspect grabbed the victim by the throat and shoved him against the wall of the store, the report says.
The suspect walked off toward the Jeep, and the victim followed him to get his license plate number, the report says. As he called out the number to his girlfriend, the suspect grabbed him and threw him to the ground, the victim told police. The suspect then fled.
A store employee witnessed the assault, the report says. The suspect is described as white, about 27, blue eyes, well-built and weighing about 250 pounds.