A woman from Toledo said the driver of a brown GMC Suburban spray painted her blue 2006 Volkswagen Beetle in an apparent road rage incident on southbound I-75 at Mile Marker 4 in Erie Township.
The malicious destruction of property occurred about 9:45 a.m., according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office that investigated the complaint.
The woman, 64, told deputies she was driving in the construction zone on the freeway when she noticed the Suburban driving very close to her rear bumper. She switched lanes, after which the sport utility vehicle containing four males pulled in front of her and then slammed on its brakes, a deputy’s report said.
The driver of the SUV continued heading southbound, but then held out a can of spray paint and discharged it into the air. The spray hit her vehicle, leaving multiple small white spots on the front hood and windshield, the report said.
She got the Michigan license plate number of the SUV and gave it to authorities, but deputies were unable to confirm the owner of the vehicle in the state’s data base of registered vehicles, the report said.
In Detroit, The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office announced that former Michigan state Sen. Virgil Smith Jr. pleaded guilty to a felony and a misdemeanor charge.
Smith was charged in 2015 in connection to a shooting incident that involved his ex-wife. He was accused of shooting Anistia Thomas' Mercedes-Benz.
According to authorities, Smith pleaded guilty to the felony charge of malicious destruction of property over $20,000 or more, and the misdemeanor charge of reckless discharge of a firearm.
Smith accused Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy of vindictive prosecution in 2019 after an earlier guilty plea was changed.
Thomas testified that she went to Smith’s home on Wexford Street and she found another woman naked in the bed. She said a fight broke out in which Smith reportedly punched her in the face and rammed her head into the floor after she fell into a TV.
The other charges Smith was arraigned on felonious assault, domestic violence assault and battery and felony firearm were dismissed as a part of the plea. Smith is expected to return to court for sentencing.
