MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The man who leaked the now-infamous Van Voorhis “road rage” video said he’s facing backlash for his actions in posting the video.
“If someone else posted, I would have wondered why they didn’t get out of the car too, you know?” Smith said Friday on Morgantown AM.
That backlash, he said, is unwarranted. He didn’t film the altercation between 63-year-old William Sothen and a 21-year-old WVU student from Harrison County.
“I don’t regret it, honestly,” Smith said. “A lot of people thought that I posted it and they’re like, ‘Why didn’t you help?'”
According to Smith, he saw the full, approximately three-minute video posted on social media by the actual witness. It was taken down in moments, though. Smith said he thought it needed to be seen — so he took the 24-second clip and posted it to social media.
“I just feel like that was kind of the right thing to do in order to get justice for it, exactly,” he said. “Because people needed to know what happened in that scenario — not something you can sweep under the rug.”
Sothen, a retired Harrison County Sheriff’s Deputy, is seen in the clip that was widely made available putting his hands on a woman who appears to be trying to get back into her vehicle. The two were stopped in the middle of Van Voorhis Road following a back-and-forth altercation that police say began on I-68. Most people didn’t see the majority of the clip, Smith said.
“[William Sothen] gets off his bike, and they are talking and stuff,” he said. “She’s like waving her hands in his face, and they’re kind of going back at it and stuff. And she reaches for him, initially. That’s where it all goes downhill.”
That’s where the 24-second clip takes over, which led to a battery charge against William Sothen.
“I should have posted the whole video so that people could understand, but I knew people wouldn’t watch it,” Smith said.
Sothen turned himself in to authorities in Harrison County Wednesday afternoon for the misdemeanor charge. He is free on $5,000 cash or surety bond.