Michael Jeffrey Spiers, 36, was arrested Saturday night after he allegedly used a PIT maneuver to send a North Carolina family's SUV into a barbed-wire fence during a road rage attack near Kanner Highway and I-95. The crash happened around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said the incident involved a woman traveling alone and her brother, his wife, and their young son following in another vehicle while on vacation from North Carolina.
Investigators said Spiers first went after the woman, chasing her through a gas station parking lot before following her onto the highway and repeatedly trying to force her off the road. The woman called 911, and Spiers then turned his attention to the family's vehicle. Witnesses reported Spiers was flailing his arms and making what appeared to be gang signs during the encounters.
Spiers intentionally performed a PIT maneuver on the family's car, sending the SUV spinning off 96th Street near Kanner Highway and crashing into a barbed-wire fence. The three family members ran from the car and hid in the brush until deputies arrived.
Spiers drove to the nearby Sunoco gas station at Kanner Highway and 96th Street where deputies took him into custody. Deputies found a dog inside Spiers' vehicle that had allegedly been stolen in December from someone Spiers used to date. The dog has been reunited with its owner. Spiers remains jailed on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, child abuse and reckless driving.