A driver of a BMW has been arrested after being caught on video allegedly instigating a road rage confrontation with a professional cyclist and throwing objects at him.
Samir Sweiss, hailing from Corona, was taken into custody on March 26 by Newport Beach Police. The department announced on social media that a search warrant was executed just prior to his arrest.
Sweiss faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon and obstructing or delaying arrest. The police department noted that the investigation is ongoing and no additional details are being shared at the moment.
The altercation occurred on March 21 at 11 a.m., as captured in a video showing a blue BMW sedan following dangerously close to a cyclist in a bike lane. At one point, the cyclist is seen jumping a curb to evade the vehicle.
In the footage, a passenger in the BMW appears to throw water at the cyclist as they pass by.
Luke Fetzer, the professional cyclist involved, shared on social media that before the video was recorded, the vehicle driver had swerved towards him at an intersection and hurled slurs at him before reaching the next traffic light on Pacific Coast Highway.
“I was angry, adrenaline was pumping. These guys had just tried to kill us by swerving their cars at us,” Fetzer said. He then acknowledged that at the traffic light, he grabbed his water bottle and “in the heat of the moment” squirted on the car.
Then, the video incident happened, and Fetzer said he began “filming for my own safety.”
Then things get worse, according to Fetzer. A few more miles down the road at a Shake Shack, four individuals got out of their cars and blocked cyclists.
“They told us they were going to kill us and tried tackling us,” said Fetzer, who added two other cyclists not involved with the incident also got put in harm’s way.
Police were contacted, and when officers arrived on scene, a bicyclist needed medical attention for his injuries and was transported to a hospital, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Police said they took the blue BMW sedan in as evidence, and bodycam video of the arrest showed a man with frazzled hair and a green shirt being led to a vehicle with hands appearing to be handcuffed.
