I was at a stop light at a major 6 lane intersection last week and there were two cars ahead of me. The light changed to green, the cars ahead of the person in front of me and beside us all took off. The driver ahead of me didn't seem to notice. The car ahead of him was already through the intersection and down the road a hundred yards. So finally I hit the horn to alert them that the light had changed. At most, two seconds on the horn, no gestures, nothing to tick him off, I thought.
The driver takes off, I follow him, then halfway into the intersection he slammed on his brakes and came to a complete stop. I had to slam on mine and manuever to the left to avoid hitting him. Since I was now in the middle of the intersection, I stepped on the gas to get out of the way and passed him on the left while he sat there. I could not see the driver as I passed because his windows were so dark. I was naturally unnerved by his actions and ticked at him, but relieved his plan to have me rear end him did not work.
I drove on, he followed me. Then I worried he was going to try to do something else to me. I was not comfortable stopping to talk with this maniac for fear he would escalate it further. So I drove on. After a mile or so he turned off and I thought that was the end of it.
The next day I get a call from his insurance company charging that I hit him and ran. (How can they get my name, address and insurance information from my license number?) At the time I felt no collision or impact when I went around him but it all happened quickly. After I got home I checked my bumper and there is a very small light scrape on the corner of the chrome bumper that could be from this incident or something else. No paint from his bumper.
A police officer came out last night, looked at my bumper, heard my side of the story, and agreed with me that this was so minor he is not surprised that I did not know it had occurred. He did not issue any citation, he only filed an incident report. He said the other driver was trying to convince him that there was a dent in the bumper and the bumper needs replacing. But the officer saw and felt no dent, just a small scratched area on the bumper.
Now, my questions:
1. Am I liable for damage to this guy's bumper when he clearly tried to cause me to rear-end him?
2. Can I charge him with causing the "accident"?
3. What are the chances my insurance company will defend me in this matter, or will they pay for a new bumper and increase my insurance?
4 Is there anything else I should be prepared for from the insurance company or the authorities?
I've had no moving violations or at-fault accidents in 30 years of driving, so I'm new to this. Thanks for reading this diatribe and any advice you can provide.

