Both drivers in an Albuquerque road-rage confrontation that drew more than 34 million online views now face criminal proceedings. Robert Hagen, 68, was named in an arrest warrant issued Oct. 19 on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, criminal damage to property and leaving the scene of an accident.
The confrontation began Aug. 18, when video captured Jenipher Lewis striking Hagen's truck with a baseball bat at a red light, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Police said Hagen had pulled into traffic in a way that caused a vehicle ahead of Lewis to slow down, angering her. After Lewis struck the truck and drove off, Hagen followed her and crashed into the back of her SUV, shattering its rear window and ramming the vehicle across the intersection, the newspaper reported.
The footage of the clash spread rapidly online, racking up more than 34 million views and turning what began as a traffic dispute into a case that has drawn national attention for months. Lewis, whose two children were riding in the SUV at the time, has remained in custody since Aug. 20 after a judge granted a motion to keep her jailed until trial, per the same account.
Lewis faced charges first
A grand jury indicted Lewis on Sept. 3 on charges of child abuse, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license, the Journal reported. On Sept. 26, the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office told the newspaper it had not decided whether to pursue charges against Hagen, although Albuquerque Police Department detectives had referred the case for review.
Hagen's attorney, Jason Bowles, said investigators had previously indicated that Hagen would not be charged and regarded him as a victim, according to the Journal.
A renewed review led to charges against Hagen
On Oct. 19, an Albuquerque police officer was assigned to review the investigation again, examining the viral video alongside earlier police reports and interviews with Hagen, Lewis, Lewis's children and the person who recorded the footage. The criminal complaint, as described by the Journal, says the officer concluded that both Lewis and Hagen had engaged in road-rage conduct.
The officer's review of the video focused on Hagen accelerating toward Lewis's SUV, braking only briefly after impact, then accelerating again and nearly spinning her vehicle. The officer wrote in the complaint that this sequence suggested Hagen's actions were likely intentional, the newspaper reported.
Hagen told police the crash occurred because Lewis braked suddenly. He said he rammed her SUV to push it out of the traffic lanes, not to cause harm, according to the Journal.
Lawyers dispute the implications as detention status remains unclear
Lewis's attorney, Jess Gaughan, said the charges against Hagen could give the court a fuller account of the incident. Gaughan also said Lewis's legal team would continue seeking her release, the Journal reported.
Accounts differ on what happened when Lewis's attorney challenged the order keeping her jailed before trial. The Journal's Oct. 29 report states that Lewis's attorney appealed the pretrial detention motion but the appeal was not granted, while the outlet's earlier Sept. 26 report said the state Court of Appeals had granted her appeal and sent the case back to district court. The discrepancy between the two accounts has not been resolved.
What crash records and other cases show
The New Mexico Department of Transportation and UNM's 2023 traffic crash report says a crash occurred in Bernalillo County every 34 minutes on an average day. The report counts reported public-roadway incidents involving a motor vehicle that result in death, injury or at least $500 in property damage, and excludes crashes on private property. Those figures provide broad traffic context, not a count of road-rage incidents. A separate Albuquerque case also involved an alleged deliberate vehicle collision and criminal charges. According to KRQE, Austin Jones hit another driver near Girard Boulevard and Gibson Boulevard in September 2024 while trying to catch up with street racers. A jury convicted him in October 2026 of great bodily injury by vehicle by reckless driving; the victim was paralyzed.
The viral video first drew attention from outlets including KRQE, which reported on the chaotic confrontation while police were still working to identify the drivers involved. Months later, with Hagen now facing his own warrant and Lewis still behind bars, the case that captivated millions of online viewers remains far from resolved.
