Robert Allen Barnhart, 54, of Bellflower was convicted on July 25 of assaulting a victim following a November 2011 road rage pursuit in Los Alamitos. Barnhart was found guilty by a jury of his peers of two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one misdemeanor count of battery. He faces a maximum sentence of five years and two months in state prison at his sentencing, which has been scheduled for Sept. 27 at 1:30 p.m.
According to prosecutors, on Nov. 5, 2011 at approximately 10:50 a.m., Barnhart was driving his Dodge Ram truck on Bloomfield Avenue in Los Alamitos when he was rear-ended at a red traffic light by Jesse Ochoa, 18, of Stanton.
Prosecutors said that Barnhart got out of his vehicle and confronted the victim by yelling and making threats at him. The victim returned to his vehicle and attempted to drive away.
According to the defense, Barnhart collided with Ochoa and attempted to place him under citizen’s arrest. The prosecution said Barnhart got back inside his truck, chased Ochoa and sped up to get in front of him.
Barnhart swerved, using the right rear bumper of his truck to hit the front of Ochoa’s driver-side bumper, causing the victim’s vehicle to spin out into the opposite lane of traffic. The victim then attempted to drive away on the wrong side of the road.
Barnhart sped up and continued to chase Ochoa’s vehicle. He got in front of the victim’s vehicle and immediately swerved and hit the brakes, which caused the victim’s vehicle to slam into the passenger side of Barnhart’s truck, preventing Ochoa from driving.
Barnhart got out of his truck, opened Ochoa’s driver side door and pulled him out of the car, throwing the victim to the ground then punching Ochoa with his fists. Witnesses restrained the Barnhart and contacted the Los Alamitos Police Department, who arrested him at the scene.
