CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — A 73-year-old man has died from his injuries after a fight in Chesterfield Wednesday night.
Several of the man's close friends tell 5 On Your Side that he died Thursday night at an area hospital.
The Chesterfield Police Department said officers were called to the parking lot of the Dierbergs on Woods Mill Road for a report of a fight in progress. When they arrived, they found a man seriously injured.
He was taken to the hospital, where he later died. Chesterfield police identified him as Steven Grossman.
5 On Your Side's Robert Townsend confirmed Grossman was a sales representative at Advertising Premium Sales for the past 12 years, his boss said.
Friends described him as "friendly, caring, outgoing and one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet."
Police said the fight occurred after a minor crash and was road rage related.
Dr. Stanley Librach works in the Four Seasons Shopping Center just doors down from the grocery store on Olive Boulevard and Woods Mill Road.
He told 5 On Your Side he has been in the area since 2019 and has seen accidents, but no major altercations, let alone violent ones.
"That's pretty tragic," he said. "It's kind of scary when you get involved in an accident wondering what will happen."
"I'm surprised that somebody would go so far. I just don't get that. But you never know what somebody is going through that day," Rhonda Douglas, who also works in the shopping center, said.
The incident left many shoppers and employees at a west St. Louis County strip mall saddened.
"I don't understand why people quite so mad, fight each other and hurt each other," Harry Witte, who regularly shops in the area, said.
"I'm surprised that somebody would go so far. I just don't understand it," Rhonda Douglas, who works in the area, said.
Others are in disbelief.
"It's scary and it's the kind of thing that you hate to see happening," Tommie Harsley, another shopper, said.
"This serves as a cautionary tale of how quickly these sorts of incidents can escalate into something far more serious. Simply don't engage the other person. Call the police when safe to do so," Sergeant Robert Powell, with the Chesterfield Police Department, said.
"I'm saddened by it, but not surprised," Dr. Muthoni Musangali, a professor and chair of the Department of Professional Counseling at Webster University, said.
Musangali said research shows since 2013 road rage incidents, shootings and other forms of violence have been on the rise nationwide. Why?
"Lack of coping and communicating skills which leads to an inability to regulate oneself and regulate your emotions. When you're in that state of mind, you're not thinking straight. My best advice is to walkway. It's the right thing to do and it's really not hard to do," Musangali said.
Shoppers expressed to 5 On Your Side that they hope the injured driver recovers.
"My thoughts are with him, and I hope he doesn't have any long-lasting illnesses," Harry Witte said.
On Thursday, 5 On Your Side's Robert Townsend spoke briefly with the injured driver's daughter who said the family wanted to be left alone.
Chesterfield police said the suspect stayed on the scene. The department also said officers were able to collect evidence from the scene that is helping in the investigation.
5 On Your Side reached out to the victim's family and Dierbergs but both declined to comment.