Love triangle fuels crash; Rothbury man faces multiple charges

Moore

GRANT TWP. –  A 43-year-old Rothbury man faces two felony counts of assault with a dangerous weapon; one count of reckless driving; and one count of leaving the scene of an accident after backing his vehicle into a car transporting a man Sunday evening, March 8, with whom he was allegedly fighting over the same woman.

Robert Moore, 43, of Rothbury, left his license plate at the scene of the crash, police said.

His arrest stems from an incident that occurred around 7:30 p.m. on Northland Crossing Drive. Moore and an acquaintance were fighting over a Rothbury woman while at a residence, Oceana County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Craig Mast said.

Moore left the home in his Ford Expedition, with the woman as his passenger, and the other man left in a Dodge Neon with different woman who was at the home, Mast said.

Moore was driving down the road with the woman they were fighting over in his vehicle when he noticed the other man in the Neon in the passenger’s seat, pull up behind him.

Moore immediately put the Expedition in reverse; accelerated; and struck the Neon with enough force to deploy the airbags, Mast said. He pushed the Neon back with the Expedition about 12 feet as evidenced by the 12-foot skid on the roadway, Mast said.

He then left the scene, but his license plate fell off the Expedition. The two people in the Neon weren’t seriously injured, Mast said.

Police searched for Moore at houses in the area and finally located and arrested him, Mast said.

Grant Township Fire Department and Oceana County EMS were called to the scene, but the victims declined medical treatment at the scene. Emergency radio dialogue indicated that a female suffered cuts to her arm due to a broken windshield.