TAMPA, Fla. — A shocking and terrifying road rage incident caught on camera by a woman stuck next to the car being attacked.
"It literally all happened in like a minute. It was so fast. I couldn't believe this was really happening. I just kept saying, 'You're going to go to jail! You're going to go to jail,' hoping they would stop," Alicia Jefferson said.
The 41-year-old recorded the whole incident on her phone until she could get the woman to safety. She walked 10 Tampa Bay's Angelina Salcedo through the frightening moments in an exclusive interview Tuesday afternoon.
"They blocked her in in the turn lane so she couldn't get past them. The guy was beating on the window saying, 'Get out the car! Get out the car!' on the passenger side while she's beating on the window and they're yelling at the girl. I'm like, this is not happening," Jefferson said.
Florida Highway Patrol says the incident happened on U.S. 301 and East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Tampa on April 11. Troopers say just around 5 p.m., 20-year-old Shaniah Cofield and 22-year-old Peter McClarin came after the woman after investigators say they were involved in a minor crash.
"He sees me recording and comes to my window to yell something. He finally jumps in the car and when he jumps in the car, that's when I pull up and see it's a girl in the car. I was like, 'Oh my gosh,'" Jefferson said.
Troopers used Jefferson's video to identify the two caught on video. Cofield was arrested Monday night in Polk County. She's still in jail, held without bond and accused of attacking a woman she didn't know in the middle of traffic.
"If they would have gotten that car, it definitely could have turned out worse. Thank God for those windows! They were like made out of something straight out of heaven," Jefferson said.
The pair's rage went from yelling to stomping to hitting a woman's car with a gun. Troopers say Cofield and McClarin attacked the 2019 Chevy Sedan with the gun after initially shooting at the woman before they all came to a stop and Jefferson started recording.
"When I got there, she rolled down the window, but she's shaking like uncontrollably. She's crying. She has a phone, but she's not able to even talk. I opened the door from the inside and I told her to get in my car. Her mom was on the phone so I explained to her mom what happened and told her where we were. We waited for the police to come," Jefferson said.
The windows on the car were a blessing to keep that woman safe, Jefferson said.
"I didn't think I did anything that normal people wouldn't do because what they did was totally abnormal. People don't normally act like that behind the accident," Jefferson said.
Troopers are still searching for the man involved. Peter Allen McClarin is 22 years old from Plant City. If you know any information about where he might be, you're asked to call *FHP (*347) or Crime Stoppers at **TIPS.