ATTLEBORO, Mass. — A Rhode Island man is facing charges after a graphic video shows him slamming a woman to the ground following a car crash on Friday morning, according to authorities.
Twenty-six-year-old Gladior Kwesiah of Pawtucket is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (pavement) causing serious bodily injury, malicious destruction of property, and operating a motor vehicle without a license.
Officers responding to multiple 911 calls about a motor vehicle crash at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 1A around 8:50 a.m. found a petite 31-year-old woman in the roadway, crying, bleeding from the head, and in obvious pain, according to Attleboro Police.
The woman was later determined to be 5 feet tall and 110 lbs.
The responding officer says he saw a much larger man, later identified as Kwesiah, standing over the woman.
The victim, Hailea Soares, spoke to Boston 25 News Friday night after leaving the hospital.
Soares, a mom of two, said the incident began with Kwesiah harassing her in a fit of road rage along Route 1, finally slamming his brakes and forcing her to hit his vehicle.
When Soares got out of her truck, she said Kwesiah tried to keep her phone from her and threw her to the ground. A witness’s video then appears to show Soares trying to fight off Kwesiah before he body-slams her head-first to the pavement.
“When a man picks you up almost over their head and throws you to the ground, yeah, you start questioning if you’re going to wake up again after that,” Soares said. “I rolled over, and there was blood dripping onto my hands. And that’s when I realized, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t stand.”
Witnesses told police Kwesiah had been banging on the roof of the victim’s car and yanked her from the vehicle. The two began shouting at each other when the woman allegedly said, “Leave me alone!” before the suspect body-slammed the victim.
Soares was transported to Sturdy Memorial Hospital with a broken knee, a broken foot, a significant injury to her eye socket and a head injury requiring eight stitches.
Kwesiah was taken to Attleboro District Court to be arraigned.
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