Road rage blamed for confrontation

A local woman says she was terrorized by a motorist suffering from a case of road rage who stalked her on Viola Highway before stopping in the middle of the road and challenging her to a fist fight.

The defendant, Carolyn Graham, was bound over to the grand jury Tuesday by General Sessions Judge Larry Ross on the charge of reckless endangerment with a vehicle. She was also ordered to serve 24 hours for failure to appear at her original trial date. Her explanation for her failure to appear was not adequate for Judge Ross, who ordered the jail time.

During her hearing on the reckless endangerment charge, Graham listened as the alleged victim explained how the incident began when she came up behind Graham who was on South Chancery Street traveling at a slow speed.

‘She’d go slow, speed up, then go slow again,’ the woman explained, saying Graham became more erratic as they turned onto Viola Highway. ‘She slowed down and was weaving then she sped up out of sight for a minute, and then she was back in the road in front of me barely moving.’

The woman said the behavior continued, almost causing a pile up behind her as other cars were behind Graham. After blowing her horn at Graham, the victim said Graham turned off only to re-enter the road and come up fast behind her, flashing her lights before passing her.

‘She stopped right in the middle of the road and made me have to slam on my brakes with people behind me,’ the woman recalled. ‘Then she got out and started trying to start a fight with my mother for no reason. I told her I was calling 911.’

The victim said she had never seen the woman before but was positive of her identity. No punches were actually thrown as the victims stayed inside their vehicle while Graham was allegedly yelling at them.

‘She’s sitting straight in front of me,’ the woman said, pointing to Graham at the defense table.

Lawmen would later say they found the vehicle complete with Graham’s identification inside but that Graham would not answer the door when they knocked.