Teenager claims truck driver confronted him on the road

A ‘bully’ workman overcome by road rage has been exposed in shocking footage as he furiously confronts a teenage driver with a ‘crowbar’ – before ripping the boy’s car keys from the ignition.

Carlo Ladi was driving home after picking his 14-year-old brother Luca Ladi from school when an alleged row with a cement mixer driver over lane merging on a busy A road turned ugly.

The 19-year-old told Luca to start filming when the enraged driver exited his mixer holding what Mr Ladi believed was a ‘crowbar’ and shouted angrily through his window.

The footage shot in Norwich, Norfolk, shows the unknown hi-vis worker reaching into the car and snatching the keys from the ignition, which Mr Ladi says ‘sliced’ his fingers.

He claims the man then threw the keys across the road and into a nearby driveway, leaving him to embarrassingly collect them in front of ‘about 20 cars’ waiting behind him.

While the man holds whatever he brings with him from the truck in a way that obscures it from the camera, the long, pointed handle can be seen protruding from his fist and Mr Ladi described it as a ‘crowbar’.

Mr Ladi says they’d battled to merge at two junctions, holding up traffic to shout abuse at each other before the cement mixer pulled up in front of his hatchback to take his keys.

Angry worker

This is the moment an angry worker in Norwich, Norfolk berated a motorist

Cement firm C&H Quickmix has confirmed the self-employed man’s contract has been terminated because his actions ‘fell well short of their standards’.

The teen is now sharing the footage as he is determined the worker ‘does not get away with it’ – however, despite the incident occurring in September, Norfolk Police say enquiries are still ‘ongoing’.

Mr Ladi, from Mile Cross, Norwich, Norfolk, said: ‘When the man walked towards my window with the crowbar, I thought he was going to take my wing mirror off or something like that.

‘I was more annoyed than anything, but then I was worried too because I had my brother with me. The whole incident was pretty traumatic for him. He was quite shaken up by it.

‘[The man] was shouting some pretty non-sensical stuff through my window and when he reached in I still thought he was trying to break something, but he just went for my keys.

‘When I tried to grab his arm, he ripped them through my hand and sliced my fingers. He threw them into a driveway, so my car was just stuck there in traffic.

Angry worker

Angry worker

It is alleged the angry worker grabbed the driver’s keys and tossed them across the street

‘Someone I recognised from school was in a car behind us at the time, looking at me blankly, and you could see traffic piling up and stuff. It was pretty embarrassing.

‘Luckily I found the keys and as I was walking back to my car there were about 20 cars all with people staring at me.

‘It could have ended a lot worse before he got out, because he was in a big cement mixer. I was worried about my brother because has was trying to merge on his side of the car.

‘I knew something bad was going to happen and that’s why I told Luca to start recording, but I didn’t think he’d take my keys. When we got home we were just so angry.’

Luca’s footage also captures the exchange between the red-faced man and Mr Ladi, showing the teen shouting ‘what did come up the side of me like that for?’, before the man replies ‘look at the f**king road’.

Mr Ladi tried following the driver for a few minutes afterwards to find out who he was, but says he didn’t manage to spot the registration plate on the back of the mixer.

The incident happened on Mile Cross Lane, near the Catton area of Norwich, just ten minutes’ drive from the family home, where he lives with his mum and two brothers.

After Mr Ladi’s father, Marc Ladi posted the video to social media, he found the company the ‘bully’ was contracted to and confronted management staff at their yard.

While the teen is pleased he encountered the ‘bully’ rather than his mum, who usually does the school run, he admits he’s still angry about the situation and hopes the man is dealt with by police.

Mr Ladi said: ‘I picked Luca up as a favour while my mum was cooking tea, so I don’t know how different it would have been if she was there. I’m glad it was me rather than her.

‘I was angry for days later and I still am. I’m not sure what I’d say to him if I saw him again. I think it would depend on if I was in court or not. I’d be less forgiving in public.

‘We’re going to take this down the route to get him in trouble for it. I wanted to make the point to my little brother that he can’t get away with it.’

A spokesperson for C&H Quickmix said: ‘An internal investigation was undertaken as soon as we were made aware of the incident, which involved an independent contract haulier working on our behalf.

‘The behaviour fell well short of the high standards expected and, as a result, the driver’s contract with us was terminated.’

A Norfolk Police spokesperson said: ‘Police have received a report of an incident in Mile Cross Lane, Norwich, that happened between 3.30pm and 3.45pm on Monday 21 September 2020.

‘The victim told officers that a cement mixer had ‘undertaken’ him on Mile Cross Lane and that while he was at a set of traffic lights, a man from the cement mixer left his vehicle and approached the victim carrying a crowbar.

‘The man from the cement mixer then removed the keys from the ignition of the victim’s car and threw them away. The victim suffered minor cuts to his fingers in the incident. Officers are investigating and enquiries are ongoing.’