Two arrested in Vancouver road rage incident

Two Oregon drivers were arrested after a reported road rage incident involved two vehicles “ramming” each other along Vancouver highways.

The incident began near Interstate 205 and state Highway 14 just after 9 a.m. Thursday when the Washington State Patrol fielded multiple 911 calls regarding a 1991 white Geo Metro and a black 1999 black Nissan Frontier pickup “ramming” each other, Trooper Will Finn said.

Other motorists continued to call 911 as the vehicles were engaged in an apparent road rage incident that moved west along Highway 14 and then north on Interstate 5, Finn said.

Dispatchers were on the phone with the driver of the white sedan, who had called 911 to report that the driver of a black truck was chasing him down Highway 14, Finn said. After repeated requests by dispatchers to disengage, the driver did not listen and continued being an active participant in the incident, Finn said.

“At some point, he pulled into a parking lot and yelled, ‘Oh my god, he’s got a gun’ and hung up,” Finn said.

Both vehicles took the I-5 exit to 78th Street, and multiple police units responded to the area to search for the involved vehicles, Finn said.

Officers located the vehicles near Northwest 8th Avenue and 86th Street and detained the drivers, Finn said. No weapons were found by troopers at the scene.

The driver of the Geo Metro was identified as Matthew D. Champagne, 36, of Canby, Ore., and the driver of the pickup was identified as Kaio Vaigafa, 27, of Portland.

Both drivers were arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment and booked into the Clark County Jail.

Vaigafa also faces a charge of third-degree driving with a suspended license, Finn said.