‘Needed to die for cutting me off’: Abilene man accused of choking victim in road rage incident

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – An Abilene man accused of attacking a victim in a road rage incident has been arrested.

Bryan Nalepa was taken into custody last week for Assault and Deadly Conduct in connection to the incident, which happened outside Panera Bread in Abilene in March.

Court documents state a victim called police and reported he was assaulted by a fellow driver, later identified as Nalepa.

This victim reported that he had passed Nalepa’s truck because it was slower moving, so Nalepa then followed him into the parking lot of Panera Bread, according to the documents.

The documents state that Nalepa then got out of his truck and approached the victim, and when the victim exited his vehicle, Nalepa attacked him, punching him in the face repeatedly and choking him while saying the victim, “needed to die for cutting him off.”

A third party had to stop the assault, and the documents state this third party also had dash camera video, which allowed police to identify Nalepa as the driver of the truck.

Nalepa was released from the Taylor County Jail after posting bonds totaling $9,000.