Tesla road rage driver convicted in SoCal attacks could be released early from prison
LOS ANGELES - A man who was sentenced to five years in prison for a series of road rage attacks in Southern California could be released early from prison.
The so-called "Tesla road-rage driver," Nathaniel Walter Radimak, 37, was sentenced to five years for stalking, making criminal threats to cause great bodily injury/death, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, vandalism and injury to elder causing death/great bodily injury.
The court granted him 424 days of pre-sentence credit for time served while awaiting sentencing.
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According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), just a year into his sentence, Radimak became eligible for parole in August 2024. However, he has not been released yet and remains incarcerated at the Sierra Conservation Center.
"This is the earliest date the incarcerated person is expected to be released, based on current information. Incarcerated persons may earn credits for participating in rehabilitative programming, which may move their parole eligible dates to an earlier date. Incarcerated persons could also be found guilty of an institutional rules violation, which could result in a loss of credits that may move their parole eligible dates further into the future," the CDCR's website read.
He entered jail on Oct. 4, 2023.
Timeline of events
Radimak was convicted in September on several felony counts including criminal threats, vandalism, assault and elder abuse.
At least 10 people - mostly women - came forward saying the 37-year-old violently attacked them in cities across Los Angeles County.
Radimak was arrested in January 2023 in Torrance by the California Highway Patrol in connection to one of his many viral road rage incidents.
Radimak was identified as the person wielding a pipe, caught on camera during a road rage incident that occurred on January 11, 2023 while he was driving a black Model X Tesla on the southbound lanes of Highway 2 near York Boulevard in Glendale.
During the incident, a Chevrolet pickup truck driver, witnessing the road rage episode involving the black Tesla, started recording with his cellphone. A few minutes later, the Tesla driver attempted to merge into the left lane, making contact with the Chevrolet and hitting its front passenger side. Both vehicles continued driving, but moments later, Radimak, who was in the Tesla, stopped in the middle of the freeway, exited his car with a "pole-like object," and repeatedly struck the Chevrolet's door and window.
He then returned to his car and drove away.
Law enforcement found steroids and more than $30,000 in his car at the time of his arrest, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said.
Radimak faced charges not only for the January 11 attack but also for two other incidents dating back to June 2022. On November 9, 2022, Radimak allegedly threatened to assault a woman at an Atwater Village storage facility. Later the same day, he reportedly left his car and threatened another woman on the freeway, breaking one of her headlights.
In June 2022, Radimak was also accused of threatening to assault a 74-year-old woman outside a Glendale doctor's office.
Radimak is involved in another road rage case from January 2020, where he allegedly attacked another driver in Hollywood, according to the DA's office.