Road rage issue totals vehicle, leads to arrest

A two-vehicle accident Saturday evening resulted in one arrest, the Putnam County Sheriff's Department reported.

Lt. Dwight Simmons responded to the call at 8:36 p.m. after locating Adrein W. Hilbert, 34, Cloverdale, at the intersection of County Road 1100 South and State Road 42, with a damaged vehicle.

Hilbert told Simmons that a vehicle, which fled westbound on County Road 1100 South, had struck his 2000 Chevrolet Blazer.

David L. Casteel, 20, Cloverdale, was located shortly after at 720 E. C.R. 1125 South at which time he reported that he had been struck by Hilbert during two separate incidents that day.

"Vehicle one (Casteel's) was found to have minor damage to the left rear quarter from the original incident," Simmons stated in his report.

Casteel proceeded to inform Simmons that he had been eastbound on County Road 1100 South when Hilbert swung wide from a driveway to travel westbound, striking his 1999 GMC SUV.

Following the incident, Casteel had dropped off his passengers at a nearby residence and attempted to pursue and stop Hilbert, but had no such luck.

He then returned to the scene to look for a possible mailbox in the area of the original incident at which time there was no damage located.

However, after turning around to return to the residence, Casteel encountered Hilbert a second time, this time in his lane, striking him head on near a 90-degree curve.

A witness at a nearby residence told Simmons both Casteel and Hilbert were stopped in the roadway facing one another when Casteel exited his vehicle to yell at Hilbert who remained in his car.

They then informed Simmons that Casteel returned to his vehicle, backed up slightly and rammed the front of Hilbert's car head on.

"The witness further stated that Casteel pushed Hilbert off the roadway and up against a large pine tree before fleeing the scene westbound," Simmons said. "The witness also stated that Hilbert left shortly there after going in an eastbound direction."

Investigation at the scene confirmed the witness' account, as there were skid marks as well as heavy front-end damage to Casteel's vehicle, with Hilbert's front-end damage being to a much lesser degree.

"To sum this all up, it was an apparent case of road rage taken to the extreme. Had Casteel simply notified authorities after the original incident, I feel quite confident Hilbert would have been located and arrested for OWI," Simmons explained.

"However, the fact that Casteel went looking for the subject himself and acted out in a fit of anger upon locating him, left him with a totaled vehicle and numerous criminal charges."

Hilbert was transported to the Putnam County Jail for operating while intoxicated a possession of a controlled substance.

Charges are pending for Casteel, and are expected to include failure to stop after a property-damage accident, criminal recklessness with a motor vehicle and false informing.

No injuries were reported.

Damage was estimated at $2,501-$5,000.

Assisting at the scene were Chief Deputy Tom Helmer and James Martin of the Cloverdale Police Department.