A 60 year-old trucker was in critical condition after a suspected road rage incident prompted a fellow truck driver to beat him mercilessly before fleeing the scene.
Arnold Eckhardt, the alleged attacker, has been charged with aggravated assault according to Bordentown Township police Captain Brian Pesce. Though the victim does not remember a specific incident occurring, police believe that something happened between the two drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike which caused Eckhardt to follow the victim to a Petro in Borden Township.
Once they arrived at the Petro around 8:30, Eckhardt allegedly pulled the victim from his cab and began beating him, kicking and punching him in the head and neck. Echkardt then fled the scene before police could arrive, but witness accounts and surveillance video helped authorities identify him.
With the help of the U.S. Marshals Service, Eckhardt was arrested in Cedar Springs Georgia, close to the Alabama border. He is currently awaiting extradition back to New Jersey where his bail is set at $250,000.
The victim was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, NJ where he received emergency surgery. He is currently recovering at a rehabilitation center near his Upstate New York home.
Source: nj, trentonian, burlingtoncountytimes
Goes to show ya, sometimes other drivers aren’t going to put up with some tough guy on the radio. We will follow you and you will feel the wrath. Be polite and know you place.
With a comment like that…you better be saving your bail money…:rolleyes:
“Know your place?!!!!” Sir we are at work. He beat up a stranger, a man he don’t even know, and what is his reward? Jail time. You sound stupid. I just criticized your post….. I didn’t stay in my place. What you gonna do? Find me so I can feel wrath? Get real.
Yea I bet he had a real hard time beating that OLD man almost to death after that vicious tongue lashing he received over the radio.
Oh that Mooey…he ain’t cowed by no one!
If some tried that with me there would be one hell of a fight . I am 67 y.o. ,not as fit as Chuck but I know what he knows and I am not afraid to use it if I have to , and it wouldn’t be the first time.
I don’t care what anyone says or does on the radio, or what they say period. No one has the right to treat another human that way.
You, sir may want to tread very carefully and be on guard with that attitude. There are those that take the 2nd amendment seriously. With concealed carry, people that think like you place yourself in danger.
Commercial vehicle drivers are not allowed to carry a gun. Just look what could happened. You be chasing another driver down the road and kill a bus load of children.
Show me in the FMCSA rules manual where it says a commercial driver can’t carry a gun…you can’t because it is not in there…
have carried for 36 years and will continue to do so
Handguns and long guns are absolutely allowed in the cab of the truck.
The owner of the truck may dictate weapon carry policy.
This is even allowed across the Canadian border with the proper license. (License must be obtained within issuing country.)
I legally carry both a handgun and shotgun inside the cab of my truck.
I have even delivered to stateside penitentiaries where the weapons simply must be signed/turned in to the entrance guard who becomes a temporary armorer.
The weapons and ammunition are signed out and returned to my truck upon exit.
The traveler’s clause extends to commercial trucks, so whenever you see signs posted,stating no weapons allowed on premises, this means your weapons may not be carried outside of your vehicle with the intent to carry.
The sign poster does not own your vehicle and if they allow your vehicle to be publicly parked, then they must either provide a secure guarded armory or your weapons are not considered on their property until they are carried with intent upon your person and outside of your vehicle.
Please educate yourself concerning weapons carry.
Yes commercial drivers can carry firearms. The misconception that the interstate transportation of firearms has to do with a driver having a weapon is wrong. That regulates transport of firearms for sale.
From NRAILA:
FEDERAL LAW ON TRANSPORTATION OF FIREARMS
“A provision of the federal law known as the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act, or FOPA, protects those who are transporting firearms for lawful purposes from local restrictions which would otherwise prohibit passage.”
Companies do not like drivers carrying firearms and most have policies against it but I would rather lose my job for carrying a weapon than lose my life because I left it at home.
Stay armed as this story just goes to show you, some idiots are always looking to get a serious case of lead poisoning.
With that attitude you will be in jail soon. I can only hope you don’t drive a commercial vehicle for a living. This is the main reason I have a dash can. Also when I began driving a commercial vehicle twenty two years ago. Other driver would stop to help each other. Not anymore. Same with the cb for information and help. But no anymore. We commercial drivers are already judged. We sure don’t need more problems because of you. Road rage happens all the time. Best for everyone to try to get along. Someone upsets you on the road. Best for everyone for you to do nothing. If not that find a safe place to get off the road. Take out you pillow hang it from your mirror . Then punch it swear at it.This give you exercise and and outlet for your rage.
What is really wrong with this cretin? How do you get to be so insecure and cowardly? Do the world a favor and toss his him and his ” families tough guy grooming” into the dungeon and “fah get bout it”!!
All the comments about this obviously unstable driver are missing the point. This guy and any others like him need to be phyc evaluated and have there license pulled. Don’t get me wrong, I think any driver who shows a penchant for anger issues, cdl or otherwise, shouldn’t be allowed behind the wheel of a potentially dangerous weapon.
Divided We Fall
First and foremost, there are two sides to every story. We have effectively divided ourselves out here and stand against each other. I remember as a child admiring Truckers. My father taught me these were men that honored comradarie and respect amongst each other. “Son, always trust a Truck Driver should you get yourself in a bind”. Five years into living the code of the an old school Trucker, I find myself relying heavily upon technology such as Google Traffic and satellite images instead help from other Truckers. If we stood united then there would be NO such thing as Facebook pages or groups like Twisted Truckers. Good job fellow divided Truckers for feeding the general public all the info they need to sterotype us. Good job for using Trucker Path to solicit for prostitution or rant about a million other things unrelated to actually reviewing the truck stops to help us plan routes accordingly.
Divided we fall
Every wonder why passing motorcyclists wave at each other? They wave because they believe in respect. I remember when Truckers used to wave at each other. I remember Truckers that didn’t care who you drove for or what you drove because the class A CDL didn’t discriminate. I remember listening to Truckers on the CB radio in bad weather help each other. I remember when Truckers didn’t wear flip flops and unbuttoned shirts looking like they just came from the beach.
Divided we fall
Refusal to help each other only allows companies to decrease our pay and the government to increase regulations. It allows more places to enact parking restrictions because we refuse to maintain a professional image policing ourselves leaving a trail of trash behind us. It doesn’t take much knowledge to track where Truckers have parked.
It seems as if the CB radio is non-existent and then some days it seems like the only people broadcasting across the airwaves are children craving negative attention.
Unite, help each other, show respect to each other, stop parking in the fuel islands, and think about the driver beside you that’s trying to also put bread on the table. Maybe then leaders will emerge and the news media will move on to better stories. We shall continue to be the specimen beneath the lense of a microscope until we improve our image. A positive spotlight is much better than a negative one.
Amen to that show some respect!!!
Some points are valid. No large group is always going to get along even when in the same occupation. We’re individuals. The biker waving analogy is bullshit. I was a biker before I was a trucker. Some of those so called 1%s and others like them are a cancer to the bikin brotherhood, just like this punkass is to the truckin one.
Soldier on young buck, your father gave some good advice. Trucking now though ain’t like trucking then. Trucking hasn’t changed, the people that do trucking have.
Thank you for the kind words of a real truck driver something we dont see anymore. Im a lady truck driver and yes i started 20 yrs ago before all this stupid stuff started.now im afraid to get out of my truck at night sometimes because of all the idiots out here.
I must have missed the part about the “radio chatting”. Did the victim even have a radio. The victim had to have emergency surgery… you mean like to save his life.
Sounds like felonius assault to me.
Hello. Sad. Critical condition from unknown cause. Really? No comment from the idiot that pulled a 60 year old down out of his truck? He’s in jail. Why is it so difficult for reporters?
There’s nothing you can do as a driver to deserve this. The beatdown artist is off his rocker. Mental. Shouldn’t be behind the wheel. Get him off the road, before they give him psycho drugs, and he walks into a truckstop and does a mass shooting.
Its a tough and stressfull job! But you can’t go bersack just! Take a big breath before!
glad i am out of this job .drove. 52 years .and no way would i go back to driving
with all the BS out there now . retired 12 years ago. i drove when it was fun job
Once a guy was in the middle of my lane changing a tire as I was coming over a hill with very little time to stop so I had to get into the hammer lane but the 18 wheeler driver would not slow up and I had no choice but to cut him off to save the guy’s life in my lane. In return the 18 wheeler driver I had to cut off took his trailer and ran me off the road into the shoulder. He was in a blind spot and couldn’t see the guy in the road changing his tire. I was so mad I was about to follow him off his exit but at the last minute came to my senses. He put me in danger by the way he ran his trailer into the front of my truck and I’m sure he was pissed at me for cutting him off as well. To this day I still have a hard time getting over it, when I think about it I get pissed off. I’m glad I didn’t follow him because one of us would be like the 60 year old man in the hospital and one of us would be heading to jail.
It’s sad what the trucking industry has become. It used to be like a brother hood but now it seems like it it’s hooray for me and the he’ll with you. There are still a lot of good truck drivers out on the roads and there are also a lot of steering wheel holders. Iv been trucking for over 40years and have made a good living. Keep on Trucking and use your head for something other then a place to put your hat.
Wow! He severely beat a senior citizen within an inch of his life?
I guess he must feel like a real bad ass now. What’s next..biting the heads off animal crackers? Maybe kicking a helpless puppy?
I don’t care what the man did or said. He took it upon himself to pull him out of the truck and assault him. Been out here 24 years now and the level of idiots that are out here never ceases to amaze me. I wish his victim a speedy and full recovery!
I am so glad I do not use a CB. All you hear is garbage. Like some fat guy telling everyone he is not wearing women’s underwear. Chasing someone down? OK super truckers. Do you know what the other person has with them? Check out a youtube video called stupid rednecks get owned by yuppie. I used to work as a mechanic. I found lots of trucks with guns in them. I never reported it. I carry (and yes it is legal).
Truckers have no respect. There is always some asshole trucker trying to pass other trucks in tight construction zones (like on US 290 out side of Houston). And no one has the descency to use a turn signal when they pass. Then you have the slower trucks speeding through towns and construction zones just to get their slower truck In front of you (Swift, Prime and Raider Express are notorious for that). Also, The middle lane on a three lane is not reserved for super truckers. The purpose of it is for general traffic flow. The right lane is for vehicles entering and exiting. I drive a 69 mph truck. But I always see some lot lizard charged asshole trying to tailgate. Hey super trucker, tailgating others will not get you to that horizontal heavy at the TA any faster.