David Winston, right, is seen after after a road rage incident in Texas in early Aug. 2023; an alleged victim of the spray paint appears in an image on the left. Inset: Winston’s booking photo. (Images via Harris County (Tex.) Constable)
A Texas man who turned literally white with rage — by way of spray paint — was arrested for all his trouble over the weekend, police say.
David Winston, 35, stands accused of one count of felony criminal mischief, according to Harris County Constable Precinct 4 Mark Herman, who issued a terse press release — along with several photographs of the bizarre encounter’s aftermath — on Facebook.
Deputies arrived at an area near a lengthy strip mall in Spring, a high-population census-designated place that is part of the sprawling Houston metropolitan area, on Friday in response to a road rage call.
There is a meat market right near where the incident unfolded. Lone Star State law enforcement were met with an odd side effect of car-and-driver culture and a resulting bit of pure humanity.
“Upon deputies arriving, the complainant reported that while traveling north bound in the 24000 block of Kuykendahl Road a driver in front of them was distracted with his phone and failed to maintain a single lane,” the constable’s office wrote. “While stopped at a red light, the distracted driver failed to progress when the light turned green. The complainant responded by sounding his horn.”
That driver’s brief register of annoyance — with a part of the car typically understood to be useful and used in such situations — allegedly angered Winston and set him off. In response to being honked at, the vehicle in front “began to throw objects” at the vehicle that had honked — while both vehicles were in motion.
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In images supplied by law enforcement, both drivers appeared to have been driving small SUVs.
Another image of David Winston, the alleged instigator of a road rage spray-painting altercation in Texas. (Harris County Constable)
When the two little trucks stopped again, however, “an altercation ensued,” according to the constable’s office.
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Then it got weird.
Winston allegedly used a can of spray paint on the honking person — to paint their face, to paint their vehicle, and to break their back window. At some point, the person who was spray-painted also did some spray-painting of his own: covering Winston’s face in white in reprisal.
By the time law enforcement got to the scene, the two men’s faces where covered in white spray paint.
It is unclear whether the can of white spray paint used on Winston by the other man was at some point wrested from the defendant, or if the victim had their own can of paint.
Winston was identified as the culpable of the two and detained.
“David Winston was arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail, charged with Felony Criminal Mischief,” Herman said. “His bond was set at $1,500.00 out of the 179th District Court.”
Felony criminal mischief can be punished by up to several years in prison depending on the severity of the damage done.
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Winston is no longer in jail, according to Harris County Sheriff’s Office records reviewed by Law&Crime.
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