A DoorDash driver heroically helped a woman escape an aggressive man on the side of a California road last week — before he was chased down and rammed into parked cars for intervening, terrifying footage shows.
Angelo Montoya, 20, was on his way to pick up his next food delivery when he pulled up to the violent altercation on Interstate 8 at Sunset Cliffs in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego.
“She’s screaming for help, help, help,” Montoya told CBS 8 of how he came to his decision to get involved in the curbside argument.
“Please don’t leave me,” the woman said, according to Montoya’s GoFundMe.
Montoya, who was driving a Tesla that he bought after years of working at In-N-Out during high school, returned to the scene to help the woman.
The San Diego State sophomore assumed his presence would calm the situation, but it only made matters worse when the man turned his attention to the driver who was still in his car.
“The aggressor starts targeting me, telling me to mind my business and I’m like, ‘No, she’s yelling for help,’” Montoya added. “’Back away from her, please. Back away or I’ll call the cops.’”
Montoya claimed the unidentified man approached his window and began to attack him.
“He punched me through the window on my neck,” Montoya said. “That’s when I knew this is way more than I expected.”
Montoya called 911 while telling the woman to get in his car, and the two fled.
Moments later, the angry man speeds alongside Montoya’s Tesla before cutting into the DoorDasher and quickly getting out of his car.
“He gets out of his vehicle and I was so scared,” Montoya told the outlet.
The college student’s quick actions led him to back up and then drive toward the aggravated man, who jumped onto the Tesla’s hood before falling back to the road.
Montoya raced away once more but was again chased down.
The stranger crashed into the left side of the Tesla, forcing Montoya’s vehicle to collide with several parked cars.
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“I see him behind me,” Montoya added. “I didn’t know what to expect and that’s when he rammed into my vehicle from the left, causing a lot of damage.”
Fortunately for Montoya and the woman he rescued, the man drove away following the crash but was soon arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, according to KFMB.
The woman escaped the incident without any serious injuries, but Montoya was hospitalized with minor injuries.
“I had a lot of soreness to my neck, my lower back and calf on my right leg was hurting.”
After his release from the hospital, Montoya started his GoFundMe, seeking assistance to pay his medical and legal bills and help pay for a new ride.
“Every day, Dashers go above and beyond delivering for their communities, but what Angelo Montoya did was nothing short of extraordinary,” a DoorDash spokesperson told the Post. “To step in and help someone in such a desperate and terrifying situation was a genuine act of heroism.
“We’ve reached out to Angelo to express our admiration and offer him our support for his remarkable display of bravery.”
