Inset left to right: A woman identified as Tiffany Bagby firing pepper spray and Joseph Vallely recuperating after being hit with pepper spray (Joseph Vallely/KVTU). Background: The defendant’s Nissan Altima was pulled over by police (Vallejo Police Department).
A California woman was recently arrested after using a pepper spray-like substance on an Army veteran during a road rage incident, according to law enforcement in the Golden State.
Tiffany Bagby, 41, stands accused of one count each of false imprisonment, assault likely to cause great bodily injury, unlawful use of tear gas, obstructing a peace officer, battery with serious bodily injury, evading police by driving the wrong way, and carrying a concealed dagger, according to the Vallejo Police Department.
The underlying incident occurred on Monday morning on Wilson Avenue along the waterfront in Vallejo – a large city located roughly 30 miles north of San Francisco and part of the broader Bay Area.
Officers responded and spoke with the victim, who said that a woman driving a red Nissan Altima “began making obscene gestures at him,” according to a press release issued by the police department.
“She then aggressively sped in front of his vehicle and blocked him from leaving,” police said.
As it turned out, the defendant allegedly had the victim, Joe Vallely, in her sights because she believed he was driving too slowly, according to a report by Oakland-based Fox affiliate KTVU.
Vallely used his cellphone to document the interaction.
“You scared?” the woman says on the video. “You should be scared b–.”
After the woman sauntered up to the veteran in his white work truck, she raised her hand and sprayed an orange liquid into Vallely’s open driver-side window. Then, the man repeatedly screamed in pain.
“Immediately felt the pepper spray,” Vallely told KTVU earlier this week. “She was like two feet away. She got me directly in the eyeballs. It felt like someone was sandblasting my eyeballs with glass.”
In additional comments to the TV station, the victim said the city recently installed a series of bumps known as “speed tables” intended to slow vehicles down considerably, after receiving multiple complaints about people driving over the speed limit on Wilson Avenue.
“I noticed someone was tailgating me and flipping me off,” Vallely explained, saying you have to slow down on the stretch of road. “And I’m driving the bucket truck slow because it’s big and old and heavy.”
Eventually, the woman drove around him near an intersection where the roadway widens to two lanes, the victim said.
“She slammed on her brakes, she forced me to slam on my brakes,” Vallely added in his comments to KTVU. “And there’s cars behind me that almost hit me. I almost hit the lady.”
The man says he backed up as he saw the woman coming his way.
“In the video, I said nothing, I wanted no confrontation,” Vallely continued. “I wanted nothing to do with any interaction. I was just trying to avoid the situation at all costs.”
After that, he drove away to find safety and wash his face.
Then came a search for the defendant.
“Officers later identified the suspect and attempted to contact her at her residence; however, she refused to cooperate or discuss the incident,” according to the police department.
On May 14, officers spotted Bagby out driving roughly 3 miles north of where the road rage incident occurred, police said.
“They conducted a traffic stop, but when officers approached her vehicle, she refused their commands to exit and then drove away, leading to a high-speed pursuit,” the police department said.
After a roughly 4-mile chase, however, Bagby allegedly pulled over and was eventually arrested, according to law enforcement.
“During the arrest, officers discovered a large concealed knife hidden between the driver’s seat and the center console of the vehicle,” the press release goes on. “After her arrest, the suspect admitted to having pepper-sprayed the victim during the initial road rage incident.”
The defendant is currently detained in the Solano County Jail on $108,334 bond, records show.
In another video obtained by KTVU reporter Henry K. Lee, a woman identified as Bagby accepts culpability for the incident.
“I just wasn’t in the mood for it,” she said. “Him being a man and me being a woman. I’ve been my own protector my entire life. I got out the car. And he began to record me. And yes, I pepper-sprayed him.”
