Semi and Hummer play a scary game of cat and mouse in road rage incident

A Hummer and a semi battling it out in a scary and dangerous case of road rage on a west Texas highway has angered the local sheriff and the video of the incident has gone viral.

Law enforcement officials told KWES in Midland the driver of what was described as a Hummer was angry because the truck driver threw a can out of his window, hitting the Hummer.

The incident occured on Interstate 20 between Midland and Odessa. Video of the incident popped up on Facebook and social media a couple of days ago. The source of the video, shot by someone following the two vehicles, is unclear.

“There’s no reason to be endangering the entire motor public on the interstate just because of the empty can or a can that was thrown out. It didn’t cause any damage to a vehicle,” Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter told the TV station.

The video shows the Hummer and semi-truck engaged in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game, with the Hummer refusing to let the semi pass.

Several times the semi moved into the passing lane but the Hummer cut it off by moving in front of it. The semi kept moving back and forth, from lane to lane, and the Hummer kept getting in front of the truck. The semi even tried to pass a couple of times on the right shoulder and the Hummer blocked the way.

The driver of the Hummer hit the brakes a couple of times, too, forcing the semi to also brake.

The sheriff said the Hummer driver was the one who called police, complaining that the semi driver had tossed the can, CBS 7 in west Texas reported.

“He could’ve got fined for litter, up to a $500 dollar fine for littering on a public roadway,” Painter told CBS 7. “But he didn’t do anything else wrong, other than try to get away from a crazy guy.”

Painter noted the Hummer driver was “committing numerous violations of the law which he could’ve gone to jail for.” He said deputies would have at least ticketed the Hummer driver if they had seen the violations.

The video of the encounter is making the rounds on Facebook, inciting scorn for both drivers, but much of it directed at the Hummer driver.

Painter said motorists who find themselves in a road rage situation should not engage the other driver. Pull over and call the police, he said.

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Semi and Hummer play a scary game of cat and mouse in road rage incident."