Boston police say a man wanted in connection with an apparent road rage incident in which he smashed a car with a hatchet turned himself in last week.
Andrew Oprian, a 27-year-old from Belmont, Massachusetts, seemed to wipe away tears during his dangerousness hearing Thursday in Brighton District Court.
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WATCH HEREThe incident, which occurred last month, was caught on camera. The video showed a man repeatedly hammering the windshield and side of the car on Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton.
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SIGN UP A warrant charging Oprian with assault with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of property was issued last month, and police said Oprian turned himself in at Brighton District Court last week.
The incident unfolded on May 16 when police responded to a single-car crash on Commonwealth Avenue near Babcock Street around 11:42 p.m. As officers were responding to the scene, they were alerted by dispatch that a man armed with a hatchet or small axe was reportedly smashing the windows of the crashed vehicle.
Prosecutors said the victim had tried to pass Oprian, who was swerving and driving about 10 mph.
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"Oprian became enraged upon being passed and drove the victim off the road and into a tree," the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said in a news release. "While the victim was in the car and disoriented from airbags deploying, Oprian parked, walked to the victim's car and struck it numerous times with a hatchet, shattering its windshield. He then fled the scene."
Witnesses said the suspect pulled over ahead of where the car crash and walked toward the vehicle wielding a hatchet. At that point, the victim started running away.
"Some guy running around with a hatchet around BU, it's not really ideal," said Matt Silva, who saw the incident unfold.
"He got pretty close to hitting him," Silva added. "Dude ran about, let's say a mile down Comm. Ave. eastbound. The guy with the hatchet then proceeded to come back and smash all the windows in the guy's car."
Surveillance video from a nearby business also shows what looks like the suspect's truck erratically pulling over and the suspect walking back and forth from the crash scene.
Silva said the victim returned to his car about 20 minutes later, after the suspect left.
"He was scared out his mind. He was screaming," Silva said.
In court Thursday, prosecutors presented several pieces of evidence, including surveillance footage.
Dr. Eric Brown, who has treated Oprian for bipolar disorder since 2021, argued that he willingly sought treatment after the incident.
"A day or two later, he came to me and said, 'Oh my god, I don't have a memory of this, but there's video out there, and I've been apprised of it, and I really need help,'" Brown said. "And I said, 'Well, at this point, you need to be, in my opinion, hospitalized, because you haven't -- despite the fact that you say you're going to take the medication, you don't do it.'"
Oprian spent a week in a behavioral health hospital after the incident, Brown added.
"Anyone watching this video can understand how terrified the victim must have been and how dangerous the whole situation was," District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. "We are selective in moving for dangerousness findings and this is a case where seeking such a finding is entirely justified."
The judge said he has to review additional evidence in the case.
Oprian is being held without bail pending a status hearing Monday.
