Driver in road rage incident gets a year of probation – Gloucester Daily Times

A Gloucester woman caught on cell phone video tussling with a Beverly woman on Route 128 in Danvers during a road rage incident in March will be on probation for a year.

Catherine Bergen, 33,admitted tosufficientfacts to be found guilty on four charges of assault, assault and battery, disorderly conduct, and reckless driving, during a hearing Friday in Salem District Court.

Do you agree those are true? asked Salem District Court Judge Randy Chapman.

Yes, said Bergen in a small voice afterAssistant District Attorney Michael Varone read out a summary of facts. In doing so, Bergen, with her attorney Stephen Neyman by her side, waived her right to a trial.

Chapmancontinued the charges without a finding.He placed on filea charge of stopping or parking on a highway, which is a civil infraction.

Prosecutors agreed toreduce the original charge of assault and battery on a person 60 and over, a felony, to a lesser charge of assault and battery, which is a misdemeanor.

Bergen agreed to a plea deal and the prosecutors recommendation of oneyear of probation and 40 hours of community service. She also agreed toenter and complete theState Courts Against Road Rage course. She was also ordered to paya $50 victim/witness assessment and $50 a month probation fee.

Bergen declined to make a statement in court, and declined comment to a reporter outside of the courtroom. The other woman involved in the March 29 incident, Susan Lavoie, 64, of Beverly, was recently found not guilty by a jury after a one-day trial last month, and it was noted during thehearing she also did not wish to make a statement.

In that earlier trial, Bergen had invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and did not testify. DuringLavoies trial, witnesses testified that it appeared Bergen was the initial aggressor after coming to a dead stop in the right-hand travel lane of Route 128 south near Conant Street and Exit 21, close to the Beverly-Danvers line.

According to Trooper Scott Hayes report, he had been dispatched that day for multiple calls of cars stopped in the right-hand travel lane, and that two women had left their cars and were fighting.

The cars had left by the time the trooper and Danvers police arrived.

Later, Hayes learned that Katherine Deleo, of Gloucester, had captured a portion of the incident on her cell phone, and that other videos were circulating on news channels and on social media.

Hayes was able to identifythe first car stopped in the right lane as a 2015 Subaru Outback registered to Bergen, andthe second as a 2013 Nissan Altima registered to Lavoie. A third car stopped behind these two was that of a good Samaritan.

The video shows Bergen outside her car and Lavoie stumbling as she gets out of her car, the trooper said in his report.

The two are then standing outside their vehicles in the right travel lane as traffic is actively passing them on both sides and they appear to be slapping and grabbing one another, Hayes said in his report. Motorists were honking at them and others were yelling at them to get out of the road as traffic piled up.

Hayes, in his report, said the incident was triggered by a lane change in which the two vehicles nearly made contact but never did.As a result, Bergen ... stopped abruptly in the right travel lane and approached the drivers side window of Lavoie ... who stopped behind her. Bergen then began to hit the drivers side window and door with her hand. Lavoie then exited her vehicle, at which point the two engaged in a physical altercation. All witnesses stated that Bergen appeared to be the instigator.

Varone, the prosecutor, said witnesses saw Bergen had suddenly slammed on her brakes in front of Ms. Lavoies car.

Lavoie called state police hours after seeing herself on the news. She was interviewed by Hayes and toldhim she had inadvertently cut off Bergens car, whichthen slammed on its brakes and forced Lavoie to do the same to avoid a collision.

The operator of (the Subaru) then approached the drivers side window and started punching same, while yelling and swearing at her, Hayes report states. She was afraid the window was going to shatter and she had no intention of fighting with the operator of (the Subaru). She told the trooper she got out of her car in self defense though in retrospect she knew she probably shouldnt have.

Lavoie testified last month that after she opened the door, Bergen punched her, causing her to fall to the ground before she caught herself. She testified she tried to grab Bergens hands to keep her from hitting her.

Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673, eforman@gloucestertimes.com or on Twitter at @TannerSalemNews.

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Driver in road rage incident gets a year of probation - Gloucester Daily Times