A 41-year-old man yelled racial epithets and used his car to repeatedly cut off a woman driving with her son in Riverside this week, authorities said today while announcing charges.
Alexander M. Borrego, of the 8700 block of Lyons Street in Hodgkins, was charged with assault and reckless driving for the Sunday attack on the 3400 block of First Avenue in Riverside, according to a news release from the Riverside Police Department.
The victims said Borrego drove up next to their car and for no reason began yelling racial slurs and spitting at them, and then used his car to repeatedly cut them off as they tried to drive away, police said.
The woman and her son both feared for their lives before Borrego turned off First Avenue near 31st Street and drove away, police said, but the woman was able to take a clear cell phone picture as he fled.
No physical contact took place during the attack, police said.
Police were able to track a license plate and the victims were able to identify Borrego in a photo lineup before a lookout message went out to Cook County authorities, and Borrego was arrested late Wednesday in Hodgkins, police said.
"The driver (victim) was a female white and her adult son was African American. The offender used the 'N' word several times during the disturbance," Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in the release.
"We cannot outlaw bigotry," Weitzel said. "But law enforcement can send a clear message that these crimes matter, that our society takes them very seriously."
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