BOURBON, Mo. (KTVI) – A Missouri mother is recovering from brain damage after a roadside attack that police say apparently stemmed from a road rage incident.
Surveillance video obtained by KTVI shows a driver following a woman’s car for about four miles on a highway near Bourbon, Missouri.
What happened next almost killed Jamie Peters, a young, thriving and energetic mother of three, as seen in pictures before the attack.
Her boyfriend, Cullen Oldham, says he’ll never forget the phone call he received that day.
“Her mom called me and said, ‘What happened to Jamie?’ and I said, ‘What do you mean, what happened to Jamie?’ and she said, ‘She’s in the ICU in St. Louis. She’s been attacked,’” Oldham said.
Peters was on her way to work the morning of Aug. 17 when something happened that led to another driver chasing her.
“He followed her about 4 1/2 to five miles down the road, back all the way into town,” Oldham said. “Everybody’s asked me ‘Why did Jamie stop?’ We don’t really know why she stopped. The particular place she pulled in at is right in the middle of town, and we just assume that maybe she felt like she was safe and that she could confront the person that was following her.”
An eyewitness who did not want to be identified told KTVI, “I got up at 7:30 a.m. I heard someone screaming outside — yelling, you know — so I opened up the door and she said something to him, and he did a roundhouse on her — complete around and she flew through the air 15 feet.”
Peters fell and hit her head. The witness said he identified the man to the police.
Joseph Voisey, 34, was arrested over the weekend, nearly three months after the incident. He is charged with felony assault.
According to Oldham, he lives surprisingly close to Peters, though she didn’t know him. “He lives within a mile of us,” he said.
Peters on Thursday was able to go home, where she will continue her possibly lifelong rehabilitation.
KTVI contacted Voisey and his family, but they had no comment.
Jamie’s mother set up a GoFundMe to help with rehab.
