HOMESTEAD – Homestead Police have arrested both participants in a wild South Florida road rage incident that was all caught on video and posted to YouTube.
Rone Gonzalez, 23, is riding the motorcycle in the video and is charged with reckless driving, which is a misdemeanor in the state. He bonded out of jail Thursday morning.
The driver of the car in the video, Kristiian Rosa, 30, and is charged with felony Aggravated Assault with a motor vehicle along with misdemeanor reckless driving. He received a combined $8,000 bond but remained behind bars early Thursday.
"Mr. Rosa totally loses it when Mr. Gonzalez gives him an initial hand gesture and goes into some sort of rage," Ofc. John Buchanan of the Homestead Police Department said.
Gonzalez posted the video to YouTube after he said he was riding when the red car driven by Rosa swerved dangerously in front of him, almost causing a collision.
For 10 minutes the driver and motorcyclist engage in a chase, and at times topped speeds of 130 mph, narrowly missing cars driving in the opposite direction.
It's unknown whether Gonzalez had done anything prior to provoke the move.
Gonzalez told detectives he was in fear for his life, but they aren't buying that story.
"He was totally free to pull over anytime," Buchanan said.
When the Rosa eventually catches up to the motorcycle, he sticks his head out and appears to be shouting something at Gonzalez while recording the confrontation on his smartphone.
Speaking to Local 10 News, Rosa said he chased down Gonzalez because he had punched his mirror, cracking it, and he wanted to get his license plate.
"The driver of that motorcycle vandalized the car," Rosa told Local 10. "He had no intention of stopping, then he breaks my side mirror in the heat of the moment."
On the YouTube post, Gonzalez said that he is an "inexperienced rider" and panicked.
"I will admit when I am wrong. All of this stuff wasn't on purpose but an attempt to get away," Gonzalez said. "I didn't chose to get on to on coming traffic. He blocked my path on both lanes. I didn't want to harm myself or other people, which is exactly what happened. No one got hurt. Everyone, even the guy, goes home."
Rosa expressed remorse for what happened.
"I'm not proud of what I did," Rosa said. "All I can say is that I learned a big lesson. A lot of things could have happened in that short time. It only takes a second for an accident to happen, yet we both took no consideration over our loved ones or the people around us at the time."
"Lesson learned. All lives matter."
The Daily Mail reports that commenters on the YouTube page said Roni had previously operated a page titled "Messing with Cars" that he has since deleted.
The video, which has gone viral, has caught the attention of Homestead police, who on Tuesday said their actions could have consequences.
"Anything that you put in a video is for everybody to see," Detective Fernando Morales said. "It's not something you can deny."