Gwinnett County

Video shows man get out of car, slap another driver through her window, police say

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Police want to find the people behind a heated confrontation that was caught on camera in the middle of a busy road.

Cellphone video shows a man get out of a car and start yelling at a woman in another car before opening the door and slapping her.

The incident happened on West Pike Street in Lawrenceville around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Channel 2's Tony Thomas is in Gwinnett County, where police are trying to figure out the identities of the two people involved.

Thomas talked to witnesses, who said the whole thing happened so fast they could barely react.

Witnesses said they first noticed the man walk up to the woman's car in the middle of the road. He was screaming at her and hitting her through the partially opened window. Then he opened the door and started hitting her.

"Call the police! Call the police! It's a girl! Call the police!" people yell as one woman filmed the incident

One woman, who only wanted to be identified as Jennifer, saw the whole thing from her nearby office.

"The first I heard was a man screaming. It was frightening," Jennifer said. "We didn't know if he was going to pull out a gun."

Benjamin McClary said he thought about running over to help but it happened too fast.

"It all happened so fast that he just got away," McClary, said.

"None of us were there early enough to see what caused it," Jennifer said.

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The witnesses told Thomas that they weren't sure what started the confrontation or if the two people even knew each other.

They said the fight only lasted about 30 to 45 seconds.

"He opened the door and he started hitting her with his right hand," Jennifer said. "I could see her covering her face with her hands, just completely terrified."

"I just don't know why someone would do something like that, especially in broad daylight," McClary said.

Thomas spoke to Lawrenceville's police chief about the incident by phone. He said no victim has come forward so far, but investigators would like to speak with her to find out what happened and why.

"The way I see it, she may not have made a report to police because she had no proof," Jennifer said. "We are hoping our video will give her some proof."

The witnesses said that after the incident, the woman sat in her car in the middle of the street for a couple of seconds and then drove away.

Th eman drove on West Pike towards Georgia 316.

Investigators are hoping someone in the area got at least part of a license plate number.