Man found guilty in racist road rage assault against family on Highway 880 in Oakland
A 62-year-old man was found guilty of assault and hate crime over a road rage against a family in Oakland in May 2023, according to prosecutors.
Tracy Robert Blackwell was convicted of one count of felony assault with a deadly weapon and a hate crime enhancement, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office said in a statement Thursday.
According to court testimony and evidence, a mother with three children drove on Hegenberger Road towards the southbound Interstate 880 freeway on-ramp in Oakland on May 16, 2023. As they approached the on-ramp, Blackwell cut across all lanes of traffic and pulled in front of her, nearly hitting her vehicle.
The mother honked her horn at Blackwell. But as the two cars went up the on-ramp onto the freeway, Blackwell began yelling the N-word and other obscenities at the family. Once on the freeway, he drove parallel to their vehicle and continued yelling racial slurs while throwing unknown items at them.
The mother told her 14-year-old daughter to film Blackwell's road rage on her cellphone, which recorded captured Blackwell yelling the N-word multiple times. It also showed that he quickly steered his car to the left, nearly causing it to collide with the family's vehicle.
Blackwell faces seven years in prison, according to prosecutors.