First published in the Feb. 4 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
A Tesla driver who allegedly carried out a series of road-rage attacks and terrorized several people in Glendale was charged with a dozen criminal counts, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Nathaniel Walter Radimak, 36, pleaded not guilty in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom to four counts each of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and criminal threats and one felony count of vandalism, along with two misdemeanor counts of vandalism and one misdemeanor count of elder abuse.
In a statement, District Attorney George Gascon said, “The victims in this case were reasonably terrified by what they experienced, but this reign of terror ends today. Motorists in Los Angeles shouldn’t have to live in fear of being attacked while simply driving on the freeway.”
The case stems from a series of alleged attacks dating back to last June when Radimak was accused of threatening to assault a 74-year-old woman outside a doctor’s office in Glendale, according to the DA’s Office.
Prosecutors also allege that Radimak used a pipe to strike someone’s car on the 2 Freeway in Glendale on Jan. 11, and that he allegedly nearly struck a couple’s vehicle with his car and then struck it with a metal pole after following them from a shopping mall in Pasadena the same day.
Radimak — who is scheduled to return to court Feb. 14 — was ordered to remain jailed at the request of the prosecution, which cited a lengthy criminal history that spans nearly two decades and crosses multiple states and jurisdictions, according to the DA’s Office.
Radimak was taken into custody in Torrance about 3 p.m. Sunday by members of the California Highway Patrol’s Southern Division Major Crimes Unit.
“The assaults were captured on a dash-cam video and several leads were provided to our department by the public, which led to the arrest,” the CHP reported.
The case remains under investigation by the CHP and the Los Angeles and Pasadena police departments, the DA’s Office said.
— City News Service
