Houston mom pursued big rig after road rage crash

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A big rig driver is under arrest after a chase in northeast Houston this morning. The person who pursued him not a police office, but a petite 20-year-old mom.

"I pulled in front of the truck at a stop light on Wallisville," said Desiree Tamez. "Another driver let me in but I guess the guy in the truck didn't like it."

Apparently not.

Tamez said the 18-wheeler driver honked at her. When he pulled beside her compact sedan, that's when it took a serious turn.

See the damage to a mother's car after she was sidesiped by a big rig this morning

"I saw my life flash in front of my eyes," she said. "I saw my daughter's life flash in front of my eyes." Her daughter, not yet two years old, was in her car seat in the back seat, watching cartoons.

The truck side-swiped the car, tearing off the side mirror and denting the vehicle, and the truck kept going.

Tamez said the truck had no license plate, so she followed. She said, "I didn't speed, I kept at a distance and I called 911."

Houston police were notified, and after winding on and beside the north and east loop, the truck driver was pulled over at 610 and McCarty.

The driver was in the back seat of a patrol car, in custody. Tamez stood by her damaged car. Her daughter had been picked up by her grandmother.

Tamez's boss came to the scene as well. She began working for the staffing company six months ago. "She has to deal with stressful situations," he said. "So she handled this great."

Tamez said she never yelled, and didn't let her anger get the better of her. She said, "I just didn't want him to get away with what he did."

The driver was arrested for failure to stop and give information. A representative of the company that owns the big rig would not comment on the incident.

The moral to the story? "Don't mess with a mom with their child in the car," she said.