Elderly Man, Neighbor Beaten In Road Rage Incident
ROCKLIN (CBS13) - An elderly man beaten in a case of a road rage rampage is alive because of his neighbor, who says the alleged attacker turned on him when he stepped in to stop the assault.
The neighbor wants to hide his identity because even though the suspect is behind bars, he says he's afraid of him.
People who know the suspect say the attack could only have happened because he wasn't on his medication.
"He drug him out of the car. He had one hand on the car, one on a cabinet and was literally stomping his head," the neighbor said.
The neighbor is badly bruised and sore while his elderly neighbor is in serious condition at the hospital after being beat up by a man twice his size, police say.
"You don't think about those things; you just react," said the neighbor.
Police say 33-year-old Zubin Bogdanoff followed the elderly man to his home off Bridal Veil Drive because of road rage. They say Bogdanoff got out of his car and started beating the 83-year-old in his garage.
The victim's neighbor came to his rescue, and that's when he says Bogdanoff turned on him.
"I could tell it was going to do no good to plant my feet and go at it with him; because he had that look in his eyes. You can just tell when somebody is over the edge," he said.
The neighbor says Bogdanoff punched, kicked and dragged him into the street, then got into his car and trying to run him over.
Meanwhile, Bogdanoff's friend and neighbor Laura Roff says she's shocked by the allegations.
"He was always checking to see if we're okay, and just always really polite. It's just bizarre," said Roff.
She says Bogdanoff is schizophrenic and is supposed to take medication on a regular basis.
"I know he's got a lot of heavy things on his mind, and maybe he stopped taking his medicine," said Roff.
Meanwhile, the neighbor who stepped in to stop the attack wishes he could have done more.
"I did what you're supposed to do. That's what human beings do," he said.
Bogdanoff is being held at Placer County Jail, and is set to appear in court on Tuesday.
