A truck driver arrested after attacking another driver with a metal pipe now claims he acted in self defense.
The incident occurred on Thursday, January 21st at the Golden Spike Travel Plaza in Tremonton, Utah – since then, the story seems to have changed.
Initially, reports depicted an unnamed fuel-truck driver asking fellow driver Danny Jerome Johnson to move his semi truck so that the tanker driver could refill the truck stop’s tanks, and Johnson reacting aggressively. Now, Johnson says that he reacted in self defense, and that the tanker driver initiated the aggression, reports the Standard-Examiner.
Johnson claims that, after arguing about who should move their rig, the tanker driver pulled his rig right up against Johnson’s truck and then “beat on my truck’s door.” It was only then that he grabbed the metal pipe, Johnson claims.
Johnson says he then told the tanker driver he would move his rig, but the tanker driver bristled and told him “[don’t] get into my space.”
“He swung on me and that’s when I swung on him with the pipe in my hand,” Johnson described, explaining that the two stopped fighting on their own.
Police found the tanker driver with cuts on his face, neck, and head, along with swelling on his head.
Johnson left the scene but was pulled over on Interstate 84 and arrested. He has since been released on bail.
As of Tuesday morning, January 26th, formal charges have not been filed.