CBS2 Exclusive: Man Pepper-Sprayed During Upper East Side Road Dispute
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An apparent clash between motorists on the Upper East Side ended with a man blinded by pepper spray.
As CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, the incident was caught on surveillance video.
"The guy was like, blinded, so they helped him into the bathroom and called the cops," a witness said.
The witness said it happened around 4:30 p.m. this past Tuesday afternoon, at 71st Street and First Ave.
It was captured on surveillance cameras at Cilantro's restaurant.
A minivan and a pickup truck pulled alongside each other on First Avenue. The female driver of the minivan opened her door. A moment later the pickup driver got out, his left arm in a sling, he approached the minivan and started throwing punches with his right arm. It was a total of seven or eight blows.
As the minivan turned sharply to the left, and pulled away someone inside, perhaps the driver, pepper sprayed the pickup truck driver who then stumbled back to his truck.
"It's a horrible thing to happen. Probably the other driver felt threatened. I mean I would have maced the guy if he'd come punching through my window," Jennifer Saldarriada said.
Saldarriada said the pickup driver said nothing as he was helped into the bathroom to rinse his eyes out.
An ambulance from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital arrived and removed him from the scene. Officers from the 19th Precinct also responded, but police have no record of a complaint being filed.
What sparked the angry response and the pepper spraying remains unknown.
