A road rage incident that began in Waltham ended when multiple men got out of their cars in Watertown Square and began threatening each other in front of police officers.
Two groups of men, one in a 1995 Mercedes and the others in a 2010 Honda Accord, got into a disagreement when one car cut off the other on the evening of Aug. 9.
An officer patrolling in Watertown Square at around 9 p.m. heard men shouting at each other and saw the two cars. The driver of the Honda Accord, later identified as Eric Cuesta, got out of his car accompanied by two other men and screamed at another man, said Watertown Police Sgt. Thomas Grady. A passenger from the Mercedes, later identified as Jonathan Desouza Costa, exited the car to confront the other man.
The officer approached the group and ordered them to get back in there cars, Grady said. Costa got back into his vehicle, but Cuesta did not. Cuesta ignored the officer’s orders and continued yelling at the other men and threatened to harm them, Grady said.
“Cuesta moved toward the vehicle with the officer in between. The officer put up his hand and Cuesta slapped the officer’s hand away,” Grady said. “When police were attempting to place Cuesta under arrest he elbowed the officer in the chest.”
As officers determined what had happened, they discovered that when Costa got out of his vehicle he took out a knife and held it by his side, Grady said. When they searched Cuesta they found that he had a knife, but he had not pulled it out during the incident.
Jonathan Desouza Costa, 23, of Brookline, was arrested for one count of assault with a dangerous weapon – a knife, Grady said.
Eric Cuesta, 19, of Mattapan, was arrested on two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct, threatening to commit a crime and carrying a dangerous weapon, Grady said.