5 days ago
Arrest made in frightening Orange County road-rage related hate crime
A 54-year-old Irvine man has been arrested and is facing charges in connection with a road rage-related hate crime and investigators believe there could be additional victims, officials announced Thursday.
The alleged assault unfolded on July 22 at around 9:30 a.m. on Sand Canyon Avenue near Interstate 5, the Irvine Police Department said in a news release.
It's unclear exactly how the beginning of the ordeal unfolded, though police said the victim was driving in the southbound lanes of Sand Canyon Avenue when he encountered Leon Tackett yelling at a Hispanic truck driver.
After passing the initial altercation, Tackett followed the victim and proceeded to aggressively swerve into his lane multiple times, nearly causing several collisions.
'Tackett shouted racial slurs at the victim before throwing a cup of hot coffee into the victim's vehicle,' the release stated. 'The liquid landed on the victim's face, hands, and on the interior of his car.'
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Most of the scary interaction was filmed by the victim, with a family member later posting the footage to social media and reporting the incident to Irvine police on Wednesday evening.
'Today, at around 2:30 p.m., Tackett was taken into custody for a hate crime and aggravated assault,' investigators said.
KTLA has so far been unable to locate footage of the incident posted to social media.
Authorities believe there might be additional victims of the 54-year-old, as well as others who might have witnessed the most recent incident. Anyone with additional information or footage of the alleged crime is urged to email rsteen@
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