Road-raging truckers end up in Grants jail

By Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

GRANTS — Two drivers of refrigerated semi-trucks traveling on Interstate 40 got into a classic case of road rage Wednesday and both of them ended up in the county cooler because of it.

What's more, one trucker allegedly took off after the other with a three to four pound sledge hammer and both of them ended up on the ground rolling around right in front of shocked lunch-time customers eating Big Macs at McDonald's Restaurant at the end of Exit 82 in Grants.

Arrested were Douglas Robert Thompson, 22, of Tucson, Ariz, a 5'8" tall trucker weighing 155 pounds, and Barth Hal Robert, 54, who stands 5'10' tall and weighs 185 pounds. Robert is from Loomis, Wash.

Apparently both truckers were driving on Interstate 40 when one trucker allegedly cut the other off. The two began arguing on their citizen band radios while blasting down Interstate 40 and when the truckers got to Exit 82 in Grants, both trucks pulled off the interstate. They parked their trucks on New Mexico 122 near McDonald's Restaurant.

At 11:37 a.m. an emergency call came over the state police dispatch saying two men were fighting in the road in front of McDonald's Restaurant.

While Thompson got out of his truck ready to use his fists, Robert did not. He allegedly picked up a three to four pound sledge hammer. The next thing anyone knows, the two men, one 22 and the other 54, were rolling on the ground locked in battle.

The police arrived, both Grants Police and the State Police, and the fight broke up, but not before officers found the sledge hammer laying on the ground.

State Police took jurisdiction in the matter.

Meanwhile, huge interstate tow trucks arrived on the scene to haul to combatants' trucks away, giving the McDonald's Restaurant customers yet another show. A few minutes later, the police hauled Robert and Thompson away to jail at the Cibola County Detention Center.

Davis said Thompson was cited with public affray, a petty misdemeanor. A petty misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail and/or a $500 fine. He has to pay a $700 bond to get out of jail.

With Robert, it is a bit more serious. When he allegedly grabbed the sledge hammer to go into battle, Robert reportedly committed aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a third degree felony, as well as the petty misdemeanor of public affray. A third degree felony has a maximum sentence of three years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine and the public affray carries the same penalty as Thompson faces.

"Robert can't just bond out, he'll have to see a judge first to set bond," Davis said.