Former Bay Area resident arrested over road rage incident caught on video

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- Two women were forced off the highway in a terrifying road rage incident. The whole thing was caught on camera and the alleged attacker is a local woman whose been accused before of melting down behind the wheel.

The incident happened Saturday on Interstate 80 near Dutch Flat, a few miles east of Auburn. The terrifying ordeal was recorded on the passenger's smartphone.

Deirdre Orozco moved to Santa Clara in 2003. ABC7 News spoke to the Santa Clara Police Department and they said they've had a few run-ins with the suspect. The last one was in 2008. All were for minor traffic violations; nothing compared to what she's charged with now.

On the cellphone video you can hear one of the victims say: "We have a vehicle that has been following us, saying she's a cop and keeps trying to tell us to pull over."

The situation on I-80 in Placer County Saturday turned from strange to scary really quickly.

The victims can then be heard screaming, "Ahhhh! She just hit our car! She just hit our car! She's pushing us off of the road!"

The woman the victims are talking about is Deirdre Orozco. She appeared in court Tuesday accused of assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment and reckless driving. She was very animated in court and gave a shocked look when the charges were read, followed by a smile.

Orozco's former landlord Joe Olivera told ABC7 News, "She had a very hard temper."

Olivera was Orozco's landlord when she lived at an apartment in Santa Clara on Town and Country Lane until 2009. He evicted her for not paying rent and says her behavior was erratic then too.

"[Anything] is possible [with] that lady. She had nothing to lose," Olivera said.

On Saturday, police say Orozco was weaving in and out of traffic. When the women in a Mazda tried to pass her, they flipped her the bird, which threw things into overdrive. In the video Orozco can be seen banging on the victims' window, flashing a badge which is for a senior assistance company and not a police department.

"To see somebody intentionally jerk their wheel to hit you... I can't explain it. It was weird. It was definitely scary," passenger Delanie Strykul said.

But it still wasn't over. Orozco chased the victims until they found a CHP officer.

On the video the victims could be heard saying, "Go to the officer. OK, OK, please make sure he helps us, please help us."

Orozco was arrested on the spot. She is also a suspect in a hit and run in Roseville last week.

Click here to watch the entire road rage incident

**Warning: The video contains adult language**