this is "nightline." tonight, there's road rage, and then there's this. how did an ordinary traffic dispute turn into an armed confrontation? >> said a couple of words, at what on like donkey kong. >> with more drivers than ever on the road this holiday weekend, some are going to extremes to get you out of their way. plus they put down big bucks for what was supposed to be the party of a lifetime. but all they got was this. >> we thought it was a joke. >> i couldn't believe it. >> more chasing down an accused party scammer. >> we want to talk about all those couples that are left scrambling now. these soldiers were days away from leaving afghanistan to go home. then --

they landed in a hornet's nest. first the "nightline 5." >> i cashed in our 401(k) to fund an alpack ka farm. >> okay, i'm comfortable with that. >> this is louise. i haven't named the other 36 yet. >> when your mattress is this comfortable you'll be comfortable with anything. experience i-comfort. the first memory foam with gel action technology that responds to your body's needs. the i-comfort sleep system by serta. learn more about 0% financing and ip rewards. >> number on heat shields are compromised. we have multiple failures. are those thrusters burning? that's a negative. what's that alarm? fuel cell two is down. i'm going to have to guide her in manually. this is very exciting. but i'm at my stop. come again? i'm watching this on the train. it's so hard to leave. good luck with everything.

with the u-verse tv app, the u-verse revolves around you the u-verse revolves around you good evening on this busy memorial day weekend. there will be many more drivers on the road than usual. undoubtedly more tempers flaring.

sometimes furious fights can result from minor lapses by motorists. hearing about road rage is very different than actually seeing how far it can sometimes go. >> reporter: you are watching a road rage incident that goes to dramatic extremes. [ bleep ]. >> reporter: investigators say it started on a sunday afternoon in march of last year when bradley turner and his wife christie were driving in their toyota suv in james city, north carolina. this chevy pickup driven by josh berry with his friend nathan and shaylee inside may have cut them off. >> he got up beside me. leaned out the window. pointing saying he is going to kill me. >> reporter: the chase was on. for 30 to 40 minutes, with their 4-year-old child in the back seat, the turners tailed the young trio. josh berry says he tried to lose them but they followed him all

the way to his friend nathan's driveway. >> when we saw him get out of the car the i threw the truck in park. turned off the keys. looked at nathan. i guess he is really going to come up here. >> reporter: in that moment, barry's friend shealee started rolling her cell phone video camera. >> when he walked up, he said a couple of words, threw a punch. it was on like donkey kong. >> reporter: on like donkey kong. turner goes down, and remember, his child is in the back seat. >> the first time i looked up, honestly, that's when i seen the kids in the car. that's the only reason i didn't keep kicking. >> reporter: look at this. >> you see his wife coming out of the car, she's got a gun, hands it to him, her facial expression is completely calm. >> reporter: christie turner hands her husband a pistol. he cocks it and it accidentally goes off. >> it was click, click, click. >> reporter: the camera goes off too. >> when i heard the click, everything goes off. i was honestly scared for my

life. after the clicks, my heart dropped. everything got real after that. >> everybody gets to see the fun part of it. we're the ones that saw a gun pointed to our face and thought we was about to die. >> reporter: we will show you what happened next, in a minute. bit first, some perspective. road rage has been around since days of horse and buggy. now with more cars on the road and cameras everywhere. we are seeing some truly outrageous examples. >> come on, fat boy! >> reporter: yelling. spitting. hitting. and throwing just about everything from coffee to crutches. as we head into this memorial day holiday, one of the busiest driving weekends of the year, it is high season for road rage. it's a phenomenon bob nemerovsky knows all too well. >> i was driving home very late at night. there was some guy tailgating me. and i got to my exit. and i flipped the guy off. he chased me while waving a baseball bat at me out the window.

>> reporter: a psychologist in san francisco has made a career of studying road rage. >> i think we all have the potential to be a road rager. i think some people get out of control. >> reporter: this dash cam video went viral on youtube after capturing this pickup truck swerve into another driver on a freeway in san diego. amazingly nobody got hurt here. witnesses say the driver of the pickup took both hands off the wheel to flip the other driver off. she was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving and assault with a deadly weapon and will appear in a courtroom in san diego next month. >> we get into a little cocoon in our automobiles. when we feel like we own the space in front of us. when someone tail gates us or someone cuts in front that feels threatening almost as if someone is driving right into the front door of our home. >> reporter: he says there are ways for drivers to prevent road rage and cool off when things get too heated. >> you're feeling stressed. do something, go to the gym. go for a walk. get yourself calm.

when you're in the car, instead of listening to maybe out rage just talk radio, maybe listen to something that makes you a little more calm. when something happens on the road and you start to feel yourself getting upset, use this mantra, fido, forget it, drive on. >> reporter: and if those tips don't help, there's always karma. in the youtube from a woman in florida. notice the pickup visible in the rear-view mirror as it barrels down on her. suddenly the truck passes her. the driver flipping her off as he races by. and then in an instant, the truck is captured spinning out of control. tires squealing. glass shattering. before coming to rest on the other side of the street. >> ha-ha-ha! that's what you get! >> reporter: sometimes, karma is a ditch. >> [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> reporter: back to james city, north carolina, and the case of bradley turner. after he accidentally fired off his gun handed to him by his wife, with their child in the

car, police say he eventually pulled away. but then he circled back and fired shots into the empty pickup owned by josh berry who he believed had cut him off. berry called 911. >> 911. go ahead with the call. >> oh, he shot out my back glass in my truck, holy [ bleep ]. >> reporter: bradley and christie turner eventually turned themselves in and are now facing a whole litany of charges. turner was in court, battered and bruised, with his attorney by his side. >> we're dealing with a man who's a father and a husband and a hard-working man. and he was just completely terrified. >> reporter: police say they did not charge the young men because they were defending themselves. >> a lot of people are saying, you should have put the phone down and called the cops. done the right thing. but it's like, if you are in that predicament what are you going to do? you don't know. it's the heat of the moment. adrenaline's going, you're not going to think right. and we defended ourselves that's what we did.

>> reporter: the case is making its way through the court system and bradley turner is now looking at prison time. upwards of four years. all because he lost his cool on the road. for "nightline," this is dan harris in new york. bradley turner pled not guilty last year. we reached out to his lawyers for comment. they would only say the legal process was still ongoing. next, these couples put down big bucks for the perfect wedding. only to find themselves locked out and out of luck. still ongoing. next, these couples put down big bucks for the perfect wedding. only to find themselves locked out and out of luck. latuda has been shown to be effective for many people struggling with bipolar depression. latuda is not for everyone. call your doctor if you have unusual changes in mood, behaviors, or thoughts of suicide.

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in the days before a wedding it is one thing for the bride or groom to get cold feet. in the days before a wedding it is one thing for the bride or groom to get cold feet. but it is certainly not supposed to be the owner of the venue who runs off. that's exactly what these engaged, now enraged, couples say happened to them. an investment in love leading to financial heartbreak.

here is abc's gio benitez. >> where's our money? >> angry couples protesting on the streets of new york this week. they're outraged and it comes days before their wedding day dreams are in ruins. their venue closed for good the owner seemingly missing for weeks. these, two abby and ryan saved up for years after falling in love on new year's eve. now engaged the couple picked a spot for the wedding. a popular happening venue in new york. rebar. >> people are like, we love that spot, we know somebody who got married there. >> reporter: and a deal too. or so they thought. >> 5% discount for all up front payments. >> reporter: abby and ryan wrote that check, more than $13,000 and handed it to this man, jason stevens, rebar's owner. but just months after giving stevens that check, a shocker. rebar's front door chained up with this sign reading "closed and bankrupt." >> thought it was a joke. i called her. i couldn't believe it. >> reporter: but it was no joke. the couple says stevens was nowhere to be found. then just last week, stevens turns himself in. but not for stiffing couples, prosecutors charged him with something completely unrelated.

criminal tax fraud and grand larceny. we knew he'd be at a court appearance thursday. so abc news was there waiting. mr. stevens, hey, how are you? he and his lawyer weren't talking. >> no comment now. >> we want to talk about all the couples left scrambling for a new wedding venue, are you going to give them their money back? >> reporter: with stephens inside court pleading not guilty -- >> we want justice. >> reporter: we found angry couples outside with the amounts they say they lost. >> $34,000. all at one shot? >> yeah. he took it less than a month before he closed those doors. >> reporter: when stevens walked out, fireworks. >> you took over $800,000 from 160 couples. >> the week of the closing, were there any red flags? >> i needed to get into a room. the lock had been changed. >> reporter: event planners katherine and tyler, employees at rebar, now out of a job and speaking with "nightline."

even though this place was closing on friday, he wasn't coming to you and saying, don't take any more checks? >> nope. thursday night. my couple for sunday evening. they gave me their final paycheck and i gave it to the bookkeeper. jason at rebar, now gone. we are at least doing what we can to salvage what we can. >> couples were contacting me asking me for help and asking me questions. >> and you're helping them for free? >> yeah. >> but you don't have a job. >> this is true but we feel a moral obligation. >> reporter: meanwhile the new york attorney general is investigating the wedding complaints. remember that sign, claiming rebar was bankrupt. well it turns out, stevens has not filed any bankruptcy papers. amazingly, these issues happen all the time. and it's why some insurance companies help you insure your wedding plans. for example, a $250 premium will insure a $25,000 wedding. abby and ryan didn't have that insurance. but still have love and hope. >> he doesn't get to steal our day.

>> you're getting married anyway? >> we are. we just don't know where. >> reporter: for "nightline," gio benitez in new york. next, the latest v.a. controversy underscores the need to take care of those who served. tonight we bring you inside the 101st airborne division.

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on memorial day weekend we honor america's servicemen and women. many find that a battle first waged in a faraway land continues when they're home. tonight, abc's father/son reporting team, mike and carlos becher, take us inside some of their most harrowing moments in afghanistan. a story we first told on "nightline" and now featured in their new documentary "the hornet's nest" we revisit the soldiers for our series "american valor." >> home to some of the most

brutal fighting in the afghanistan war. >> the situation right now. they're shooting from a bunch of different places -- >> for soldiers of the 101st airborne battalion this was their battle. >> this is his home. this is his sanctuary. this is his neighborhood. no one has ever dared to go in there. you think it's going to cause a ruckus? i think so too. >> just days from going home they must undertake a final fight to try to take out an al qaeda and taliban leader. >> you really have 16 days left. >> yes. >> i joined 400 soldiers. >> keep eyes on that bridge -- >> not knowing that the next nine days would change all of our lives. [ gunfire ] >> we had landed in the hornet's nest. >> we're shooting. we've got contact up on the hill

[ bleep ] to our northwest. >> this was command and control for the taliban right here and they were going to make us pay. >> [ bleep ]. >> i got one gunshot wound to the neck. and one gunshot wound to the leg. >> i could hear the radio calls coming in. >> i need that medevac now. >> you don't know who you are until that moment. when you know some one is dying, if you don't get there. and you might die trying to save them. they were not fighting for some war on terror, they were fighting for their buddies. >> [ bleep ]. goddammit! what happened? >> three casualties. >> as the battle waged more than a week, six men would give their lives.

five silver stars would be awarded for valor. and 132 taliban or al qaeda fighters killed. their leader forced out of the valley. >> roll call! sergeant mendes! >> hey, sergeant major. >> sergeant rincon! specialist jamieson l.lincog. >> every soldier in no slack knows if that time comes that the honor and respect is bestowed on them for their ultimate sacrifice will always be met. >> command sergeant major chris fields didn't know the camera was rolling. these were his men. when no one else was around, he walked up and let the entire war come out right there. >> and you went down and you

broke down. what was in your heart then? >> there's not a moment that goes by that -- that remembrance of that. i knew them. >> it is three years later. and i sit down with some of those i met on the battlefield. >> does it seem further away after three years? >> no. it's still there. it's tough. >> some have chosen to stay in the military. >> that's all i ever thought about doing. that's all i ever want to do is just be an infantry line medic. >> when we're there, it's like the super bowl of everything that we train for. >> but all struggle with what happened there. >> going from that and then coming home and having your family so excited to see you. i -- i had to relearn and figure out, how do i even talk to my mother and father? >> i was just -- so alone, you

know? being a combat medic. one of the roughest jobs there is out there. everything, piece by piece, fell apart. >> every one of these individuals and thousands more have felt in the pit of their stomach, is this my day? and so -- you can't just explain it with words. >> for fields the darkness almost consumed him. >> i was on the verge. i was on the verge of making a very, very dark decision in my life. >> take your own life? >> roger that. i was right there. locked, dockcoo cocked, ready t. >> why didn't you pull the trigger? >> pus there's the nco saying, you lead by example. >> fields made healing his new mission. >> i had some very, very dark days. i know that if i am at that dark point, that there are thousands been thousands that are in that same boat. for me, it is now a different

fight. [ gunfire ] >> a reminder of the debt we owe to those who served. our thanks to mike becher and "the hornet's nest" is in select theaters and goes nationwide on june 6th. thank you for watching abc news. tune into "good morning america" tomorrow and as always online at abcnews.com. have a good weekend. what is performance? 0 to 60? or 60 to 0? how a car performs in a quarter-mile? or a quarter-century? is performance about the joy of driving? or the importance... of surviving? to us, performance is not about doing one thing well. it is about doing everything well. because in the end... everything matters.

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