SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, Calif. — A 44-year-old Foresthill man faces a long road to rehabilitation after an apparent road rage incident nearly left him dead.
Justin Montgomery said he suffered a brutal attack on the afternoon of Dec. 10, just north of Lodi. Montgomery was driving south on Highway 99, heading to the Turlock area in his new 2020 Dodge Ram pick-up truck to buy a go-kart for his son, when suddenly a small car seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"He split between my truck and the semi-truck, then he clipped the front end of my truck," Montgomery said from his hospital bed at San Joaquin General Hospital in French Camp.
Montgomery said the driver motioned to get off the freeway at southbound 99 and Peltier Road for what Montgomery thought was to exchange insurance information.
"As soon as I got out of the truck, he just came out swinging, and he was, you know, just looking for a fight," Montgomery said.
A fight ensued, during which Montgomery said the man dropped his wallet.
In a post on the 1 Love Dog Rescue Facebook page, which Montgomery runs, he wrote, "He dropped his wallet and I picked it up and ran to my truck hoping to just get his driver's license."
Montgomery said the man and a woman with him ran over to Montgomery's truck and started punching him.
"I did my best to get away and I ran to the other side of the truck and threw his wallet over a fence hoping that it would just give me enough time to get a plate number and call the police," Montgomery wrote.
Instead, Montgomery said, the man got behind the wheel of Montgomery's truck.
"I tried to jump into the passenger side," Montgomery said, but he slipped and fell to the ground instead.
"And then he ran over my body, my man parts and my pelvis," Montgomery told ABC10 from his hospital bed.
While lying on the ground bleeding, Montgomery said he watched as the attacker eventually drove the truck back, dropped the keys and phone next to him and left. Montgomery was able to call 911 and was rushed to the hospital.
Montgomery said he was in the ICU for three days and had multiple blood transfusions. He said he technically died on the table at least once.
Montgomery said investigators are looking for the man who attacked him. Maria Francis, his fiancée, said police are having a difficult time because they don't have the license plate.
Montgomery describes his attacker as having two distinct growths on his neck. He said the suspect is a short, thin Black man; around 18 to 20 years old; with a small mustache and dressed all in black, militant attire.
Montgomery said investigators also took fingerprints from his truck.
ABC10 reached out to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office regarding the case. On Monday, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office said deputies were searching for a black man, between 5'5" to 5'7" tall in his 30s, in regard to the case. Authorities said he had a slim build and was in a black BMW.
Anyone with information can call the sheriff's office at 209-468-4400
A spokesperson for the sheriff's office said Montgomery has questions surrounding his character related to his dog rescue, but the attack he experienced is legitimate and corroborated by witnesses and photos.
