STUART, Fla. (CBS12) — A Florida man is behind bars after deputies say he used a PIT maneuver to send a North Carolina family’s SUV into a barbed-wire fence during a road rage attack that began on I-95 and, at one point, passed through Stuart.

According to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, the crash happened around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday near Kanner Highway and I-95.

Investigators identified the suspect as 36-year-old Michael Jeffrey Spiers, who is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and child abuse.

Deputies say the family had no role in any confrontation before they were targeted.

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According to investigators, Spiers first went after a woman who was driving alone, chasing her through a gas station parking lot before following her onto the highway. The woman frantically called 911 and told dispatchers he repeatedly tried to force her off the road.

The woman’s brother was following behind her in a separate car with his wife and young son. Authorities say Spiers then turned his attention to the family’s vehicle, throwing objects, brake checking and attempting to run it off the roadway.

Investigators say witnesses reported Spiers was flailing his arms and making what appeared to be gang signs during the encounters.

According to the arrest report, the woman lost Spiers by driving the wrong way up an exit ramp to get back on I-95.

Deputies say the suspect continued chasing the family’s SUV. Eventually, the suspect intentionally performed a PIT maneuver on the family’s car; a tactic typically used by law enforcement to stop fleeing vehicles.

The impact of the PIT-maneuver sent the family’s SUV spinning off 96th Street near Kanner Highway and crashing into a barbed-wire fence, deputies said.

The three family members ran out of the car and into the brush to hide until deputies arrived.

Spiers drove to the nearby Sunoco gas station at Kanner Highway and 96th Street where deputies took him into custody. Deputies say Spiers didn’t know the victims but believed they were stealing his money.

“Our suspect. [I] don’t know what was in his mind,” said Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek. “He acted erratic. He acted as if he was high on some type of of drug, some kind of a stimulant, or he was having some kind of mental episode. We don’t really know.”

Despite the violent crash, no one was injured, including a child who was inside the family’s vehicle.

“They did all the things that we would recommend they do. They called 911,” said Sheriff Budensiek. “Thankfully, our suspect didn’t have a gun; it could have ended so much worse.”

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Deputies also found a dog inside Spiers’ vehicle. During the investigation, detectives learned the dog had allegedly been stolen in December from someone Spiers use to dated. The dog has since been reunited with its owner, according to the sheriff’s office.

Spiers was taken into custody and remains jailed on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, child abuse and reckless driving.