Tesla road rage suspect pleads not guilty
A man accused of being the Tesla driver who terrorized the roads with a pipe pleaded not guilty at his Jan. 31 Los Angeles arraignment.
Nathaniel Radimak, 36, was arrested Jan. 29 in connection with a Jan. 11 road rage incident that took place on the 2 Freeway.
The road rage attack was captured on camera, showing the Tesla driver stopping his car in traffic, then getting out with a pipe and striking the other car with the pipe. Later that day, Radimak allegedly followed a couple from a shopping mall in Pasadena and nearly struck their car with his vehicle. He also allegedly struck their vehicle with a pipe.
Radimak is accused of attacking eight separate victims and is facing 12 charges in total. He has been charged with four counts each of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and criminal threats, along with one felony count of vandalism. Radimak is also charged with two misdemeanor counts of vandalism and one misdemeanor count of elder abuse.
"The victims in this case were reasonably terrified by what they experienced, but this reign of terror ends today," District Attorney George Gascón said. "Motorists in Los Angeles shouldn't have to live in fear of being attacked while simply driving on the freeway. Our office will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to determine if this person has committed similar acts against people in Los Angeles County and elsewhere."
The details of his rage spree continue with a Nov. 9, 2022 incident where he is accused of threatening to attack a woman at a storage facility in Atwater Village. Later that day, he allegedly got out of his vehicle and threatened another woman on a freeway and broke one of her headlights.
He is also is accused of threatening to assault a 74-year-old woman outside a doctor's office in Glendale last June.
Radimak has a pending case where he is accused of allegedly attacking another driver in a road rage incident that occurred in Hollywood in January 2020. When his car was searched, he allegedly had steroids and more than $30,000. He is charged in that case with one felony count of possession for sale of a controlled substance and one misdemeanor count of battery.
Prosecutors requested that bail be denied based on his criminal history, spanning nearly two decades and crossing multiple states and jurisdictions. The judge denied bail.
He is to appear back in court Feb. 14.