Passenger Charged in Road Rage Case

A Van Nuys man has been charged with assault for allegedly punching out a car window and attacking a woman in a vehicle that cut the car he was riding in off in traffic, an incident witnessed by a deputy police chief, the city attorney said Wednesday.

Pedro Hernandez Rios, 26, was a passenger in a car traveling on Beverly Boulevard near Rossmore Avenue on March 7 when they passed another vehicle and blocked its path, according to Deputy City Atty. Jerry Baik.

Rios got out, smashed a window on the other car with his fist and punched a 37-year-old Koreatown woman who was a passenger, Baik said.

Deputy Police Chief Charles Dinse of West Bureau Operations, who had stopped at the intersection of Beverly and Rossmore, reportedly saw the incident. He detained Rios until other officers arrived and arrested him, city attorney’s spokesman Mike Qualls said.

Rios is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, battery and vandalism. The woman was treated for cuts on the left side of her face, Qualls said.

“In the past few years, we have seen a steady flow of road rage cases coming in,” Qualls said. “We’ve recently started seeing cases of parking lot rage, too.”

Rios is scheduled for arraignment April 13 in Los Angeles Superior Court.