Ax-wielding man attacks couple’s car after rear-end crash in Tennessee, police say

A man with an ax attacked a car containing a 76-year-old driver and his 69-year-old girlfriend during a road rage incident following a minor crash in Memphis, police said.

The attacker is accused of driving away after the Tennessee crash the morning of Saturday, Feb. 22.

The incident was captured on video by a bystander and shared by WMC, showing an ax-wielding man rear back and slam his weapon into the SUV multiple times with full force, having to work to pull his ax out of the side of the vehicle.

“We were afraid for our lives,” the captive driver told WREG.

The Memphis Police Department said the 76-year-old driver and his girlfriend crashed into the accused attacker’s Chevy Impala. Then the Impala driver got out of the car with an ax, according to police.

“He took a huge swing and knocked out the back window with one or two swings,” the SUV driver told WREG. “Then he came to the driver’s side and started whacking at the door with the ax and put a hole in the driver’s side door. Then came around to the front with the ax, and put a hole in the windshield, and cracked it toward the middle.”

Afterward, the ax-wielding man got back in his car and fled, police said.

The couple wasn’t injured, according to police, who say the investigation is ongoing.

This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Ax-wielding man attacks couple’s car after rear-end crash in Tennessee, police say."