I was trying to merge onto an on-ramp last Friday and was looking at the traffic I was trying to merge into. At the last second I noticed a car ( a dark grey Nissan Pathfinder)stopped in my lane while trying to merge. The onramp was an uphill one and the car blended right into the blacktop making it really hard to see. I only had a split second to react and I was afraid if I just hit the brakes I would rearend the other vehicle so I swerved around it and continued to merge into traffic. I thought I showed considerable driver skill in avoiding an accident but I guess the other driver didn't see it that way because he began following me. I was obeying all traffic laws and moved from the passing lane into the slow lane and the other driver pulled up next to me. I tried not to look but eventually I did and he had his window down and was yelling at me. I rolled down my window and yelled that I was sorry and that it was an accident. He started screaming and pointing for me to pull over. Now I did flip him the bird and said "ya, screw you" and took off because he looked very irrate and I wasn't going to pull over and have him attack me or something. He procceded to follow me again and got right on my tail. I took an exit onto a different freeway and tried to pull away from him but he came right up on me again quick. Now at this time I'm starting to get pretty scared because obviosly this guy wanted to confront me. I speed up in the passing lane and then move over into the slow lane again and he gets right up on me again. Now at this point I applied steady pressure to the brake to slow down and him along with me. I DID NOT slam on the brakes or screech my tires or anything. I figured if I got him slowed down then I could maybe speed up down an offramp and lose him. When I took off I think I flipped him the bird again (at least he says so),which I know wasn't smart when I'm fleeing from a man I believe is going to try and cause me bodily harm, but I was riding on so much adrinaline I don't even remember doing it. At this point I also picked up my cell phone and thought about calling 911 but as I sped down the offramp I came apon backed up traffic waiting at a stop sign and had to throw my phone down so I could shift ( I was driving a manual car). Now he's right behind me again in traffic and I'm getting really scared. I roll down my window and yell that it was an accident. He yelled something like "it's too late" or something like that. When I get to the stop sign I take off again fast and start looking for a public place where I can pull over so there are witnesses to whatever goes down. He takes off after me too and that is when I see a police car with it's lights on coming from back the way we came a block or two away. I could tell he was coming after us so I pulled into a Fire Fighter station thinking that the police officer was my salvation from this crazy guy that's chasing me relentlessly. Of course the guy chasing me pulled in too. As the Officer pulls in I start pointing at the other driver and the Officer scowls and points at me! The Officer and the guy in the car both jump out and start screaming at me to stay in my car, blah, blah blah. It turns out that the other driver is an off duty police officer, he called the cops and this is his co-worker cop buddy in the cop car! I'm trying to explain my actions and they keep ganging up on me and yelling at me. Now, this off duty police officer was in plain clothes, is in a private vehicle, and he NEVER identified himself as a police officer! I kept saying that if he had yelled that he was a cop and to pull over I would have pulled over immediatly and explained to him that it was an honost mistake and that I was trying to avoid an accident. They wouldn't even let me explain my side of the story and the off duty cop kept yelling that I flipped him off and was completely irate. According to him since I flipped him off I was going down. He said I could have just rolled up my window and ignored him back on the freeway and the fact that I didn't showed I was an aggresive driver and what my motives were or some thing like that. However, it's perfectly ok that he was chasing me down screaming at me to pull over and stuff. Ok, like that makes sense. His buddy cop asked him what he wanted and the off duty guy said "everything you can". I was very apoligetic and trying to explain that I thought he was trying to come after me. The on-duty officer yelled that I had a cell phone and should have called 911. I tried to explain that I was going to try to and he cut me off and wouldn't listen, saying he didn't believe I was scared of the guy following me! I repeatedly tried to tell them that I pulled into the Fire Hall because I thought it was a safe place and that if I thought I was in the wrong why would I pull over as soon as I saw a cop that was not even behind me and was pointing at the other driver clearly in fear that I was being chased. They would not listen to me at all and kept saying to tell it to the judge. Other officers showed up and it seemed that they were trying to figure out what they could nail me for and finally cited me for Reckless Driving! I think the off duty guy was trying to get more but one of the new officers kept shaking his head like that won't hold up or something. They even got some big, huge book out and were looking up stuff. Now, I think that they were saying that when I got on my brakes is what was reckless but it was totally controlled and I wasn't trying to cause an accident and he didn't come anywhere near hitting me or anything. I went from maybe 65 to 40 in 2-3 seconds. Now, this is just my guess because they never actually told me what I did to incurr the infraction but the ticket said it happend up on the freeway before the exit. As the original officer is giving me the citation the off duty guy is standing behind him smirking and trying to look all tough and stuff. The officer procedes to explain to me how to send in a not guilty plea saying that "he's sure I'll contest it", uh, ya. I asked what kind of points this would get me and the off duty guys says "you're going to lose your license for a minimum of 6 months" with a big old smile on his face! I felt completely violated and still can't believe that this happened to me. If I was chasing some guy down in my car that swerved around me and called the cops would the same thing have happened? If I were a female and this guy was chasing me would I have been cited for reckless driving then? I truly can't see how they can charge me with anything for trying to get away from a guy that's chasing me and never identified himself as a police officer! I need help, am I right in my thought's or am I a criminal and a danger to others?
Oh, sorry for the lack of paragraphs and bad grammer. I'm too emotionally spent and tired to think about that stuff right now.
