Two days after a heated and scary exchange in which a man almost ran over a photographer with his vehicle, there's good news: the person involved has been arrested and charged with multiple offenses.
Multiple reports have come in that sheriff's deputies arrested a Ramona resident in connection with the altercation that took place on July 9. The man has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon, misdemeanor battery, and vandalism and is currently being held on $30,000 bail, with a court date this week. In addition, the photographer, Alex Stone, is asking that the man pay for the damage caused to his phone when it was smacked from his hands onto the pavement.
In case you missed it, this past Saturday, Stone was on a shoot for a car parts company on a remote stretch of road in Ramona, CA, when a man drove up and began yelling obscenities and saying the men were blocking his driveway (even at one point claiming the road was his driveway), but no driveway appeared in sight. Stone remained commendably respectful and patient; nonetheless, the man grew increasingly agitated and eventually drove his SUV at Stone and his client multiple times, before eventually exiting the vehicle and physically confronting the men, the incident ending with the man slapping Stone's phone out of his hand, breaking the screen. You can see the entire altercation in the video above. Hopefully, justice will be served, as there's simply no excuse for this behavior.
Glad he was charged and hopefully is convicted. People need to know they can't behave this way. Glad the photographer and the client are ok and getting the justice they deserve. Happy ending!!
I will probably feel more forgiving in a day or so but right now after seeing this video I hope this guy spends significant time in prison! Totally pathetic! Congrats to the photographer and crew for keeping their cool. Not sure if I could have been so in this same situation.
Same here. I don't know how some people can stay so cool in those situations.
Give him life!
Well then...... that was... interesting. Much worse than your typical bored security guard.
Stone did as best he could to diffuse the situation, but I'm betting there was some mental health or alcoholism involved on that guys behalf. Also, it wasnt outlined, but curious if Stone was cited for anything since he appeared to have a car parked in a highway, remote or not, with lighting set up as well. Did he have permits? Was this a guerilla shoot? Were the authorities notified in advance that he would be blocking a highway? They probably should have hired an off-duty officer for the shoot for a fee. Yes it adds expense to the shoot, but it also shows professionalism and adds production value to the shoot and prevents issues like what was illustrated in the video.
If you are familiar with the Ramona area you know that it is stuffed with rednecks and white supremacists. If you look at Stone's photo you can see he is precisely the sort they would go off on. Moreover, this election season, the right has been emboldening jerks to be bigger jerks because, political correctness.
Been there, seen it, hate it.
Blocking the highway? Hardly
I agree, 2 different issues, however it is odd they did not get a permit.
They were in the lane, it was stupid. The remote ness of the road is irrelevant.
.
.
Regarding permits, I'll go out on a limb here and say it looks like it was "permit free". Maybe it was editorial or for a small biz or a person. Not for Audi. Adding a permit ($200-$300) Ins Cert ($125) and a CHP officer ($60 per hour minimum of 4 hours plus vehicle and mileage from CHP post= $500-$600) So adding costs of close to $1k to a small shoot is not going to happen.
It's what we call "run an gun" or "bootleg" or "going commando" where you try not to be in one place long enough to piss people off. Ya drive around and shoot at the cool places you find. Permits require a timeline of where you 'll be. A lot of lower end shoots are done this way like it or not.
It's great when the budget allows but often there's not time or money to do it by the rules. So playing the odds of getting busted (1 time) or assaulted (0 times) in 100+ shoots I do what I can and pack it up fast if I need to.
Once when shooting a Ferrari for a mag the Ventura Cty Sheriff rolled up drooled over the car told a story of stopping "famous actor" on CA118 going 118, told him it's name of the road, not the speed limit.... then offered to hold up traffic for 15 minutes to let us shoot.
Cant reason with a doofus. Maybe hitting him in the wallet will make him think twice...but I doubt it.
Driver is very fortunate that these guys weren't armed. There is a reason the law designates trying to run someone over as felony assault with a deadly weapon and legally they'd have been justified to shoot in defense. Glad the photographers escaped peacefully, in the same situation law enforcement would have made this guy into Swiss cheese.
.
.
.
Next video I want to see, is when the police arrested the guy.
What a shiny example of humanity. Not sure if it was really necessary to post the guy's personal details though.
Police bookings are public record. As for his privacy, nothing like a viral video to convict you in the court of public opinion.
Dude was totes drunk.
Is this a HIPSAI??? Decide for youself!
HIPSAI? High intelligent (NOT impotent) person - such an idiot...
Really, even if this was his f....g road, he could be friendly, inform
the photographer and/or charge a little fee...
May I am wrong...
Cheers
Norbert
In a July 20, 2016 article he pleaded not guilty but changed that to guilty in the end. LOL!
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/whats-now/sdut-ramona-man-guilt...
As a photographer in Detroit, I've never run across a racist bully as this idiot but, let me tell you, when I'm out shooting on location, I'm armed. I live in one of the worst cities on the globe and some locations we shoot in are less than desirable, to say the least. So, an idiot like this would've been meet with extreme prejudice. He's fortunate to still be walking and talking, we don't play around here.
That guy looked like some staff from Fstoppers. go figure, more fake stories......Satire humor of the day
sample of why I will not move back to the states, DT has given idiots like this license to misbehave. The issue is until DT is served his consequences these idiots will continue to think there are no consequences. Good thing this idiot will now learn there are consequences for bad behaviour and it costs a lot of $$$ and jail time. Hope he wakes up.