Road rage in Grafton store parking lot leads to charge

A 29-year-old man was charged in Ozaukee County Circuit Court this week with ramming his car into another vehicle and injuring its driver in a road rage incident in the parking lot of the Meijer store in Grafton.

Corey M. Lecher of the Town of Grafton faces one count of hit and run causing injury.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called to the parking lot just after 4 p.m. Saturday, March 2, and spoke to a man who said he was driving through the lot when another car, which authorities later learned was driven by Lecher, cut him off.

The man said he reacted by throwing his arms up. He said Lecher then pulled up next to him and the two exchanged words.

The man said he drove away and Lecher followed him. After stopping at a stop sign in the parking lot, the man said, he was making a turn when Lecher rammed his car, the complaint states.

The man complained of injuries and was taken to a hospital.

A witness who was following Lecher said she saw the man and Lecher “angrily exchanging words,” according to the complaint. She said the man drove away with Lecher following him and was making what appeared to be a U-turn when the men began yelling at each other again.

The woman said she then saw Lecher “floor it” and ram the other vehicle in a clearly intentional act, the complaint states.

Lecher, who left the parking lot before police arrived and was interviewed later by officers at his home, said after the initial confrontation he followed the man to a point in the parking lot where he believed the man was going to turn right and he was going to turn left. He said that’s when the man started to make what appeared to be a U-turn, stopped and backed into his car, the complaint states.

When asked why he drove away from the scene, Lecher told police he didn’t think he had auto insurance, according to the complaint.

Lecher was arrested and is now free in lieu of a $1,000 signature bond.