Witness recalls road-rage rollover

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Police say it was a "battle" on the freeway Tuesday that had drivers fearing for their lives and ended with the northbound lanes of I-25 being shut down for hours.

Authorities say witnesses saw Michael Waltenburg, 64, driving his pickup truck aggressively and trying to run a car off the road.

"It was just like a gunfight," said witness Fred Rogers.  "This guy was trying to gun down the guy in the sedan.

Rogers was driving behind the truck. He called police.

The crash caused Waltenburg's truck and the travel trailer he was pulling to flip over.

Just after 11 a.m. Tuesday police got calls of a the driver of a red truck towing an RV driving like a maniac.

The criminal complaint alleges the driver of a car tried to get around Waltenburg and his massive load, but he sped up and yelled at the driver. Waltenburg then rammed the car into the guard rail, police said.

The complaint says that the car spun out, stopped about 100-yards down the road and that the truck also lost control and rolled with the RV.

Police arrested Waltenburg shortly after the crash.

A woman passenger with him in the truck was taken to the hospital but is alright.

Police are surprised no one was seriously hurt.

“A lucky thing for the individuals involved that were in both of those vehicles,” Officer Tasia Martinez said. “Also very lucky for the other drivers on the road that they weren't somehow caught up in this massive collision and nobody was hurt. It's just pure luck that that happened.”

A couple of dogs in the truck were taken to animal control.

Online court records show Waltenburg, who's from Colorado, remained jailed Wednesday.

He is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. His bond was set to $5,000.