LOS ANGELES — A man suspected of being the Tesla driver involved in a series of road-rage attacks in Southern California has been arrested, authorities said Monday.
At least 10 people have come forward saying they’ve had frightening encounters with the man, in several cases capturing him on video smashing the sides of cars with a metal pipe.
A suspect linked to those attacks was arrested by California Highway Patrol officers at a carwash in Torrance Sunday afternoon and booked into LAPD’s 77th jail.
He has been identified as 36-year-old Nathaniel Walter Radimak. He was booked for assault with a deadly weapon and on two outstanding warrants. Initial bail was listed at $5.175 million.
His car, a 2022 Tesla Model X, was seized.
SEE ALSO | Caught on camera: Man attacks car with pipe in road-rage incident on freeway
Video obtained by our sister station, ABC7 Los Angeles, showed the suspect smashing a car with a pipe on the 2 Freeway in Glendale.
The CHP says Sunday’s arrest at this time was just for the Jan. 11 assault on the 2 Freeway. The investigation is continuing.
The CHP asked anyone with further information to contact the agency’s Los Angeles office at (213) 744-2331 or after-hours call the CHP Traffic Management Center at (323)259-3410.
The CHP issued this image on Instagram to announce the arrest of Tesla road-rage suspect Nathaniel Radimak.
CHP/Instagram
After the victim in the 2 Freeway incident came forward, others began detailing their own encounters with the same man. Eventually people outside of California joined to help investigate via social media.
Popular internet sleuth TizzyEnt began sharing Eyewitness News videos to his 5.3 million TikTok followers. The influencer said three people came forward with the suspect’s name, which he passed along to police.
One of the suspect’s attacks included punching a woman in the face and leaving her with a black eye in October 2021.
Another victim who had her tires slashed in West Hollywood in March said she is thankful for the attention the attacker has now gotten.
“For the past year, in part of my mind I thought: was there someone out to get me?” she said. “All these different accounts have been good to know that it wasn’t me specifically.
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