A Texas man has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly pointed a gun at a Black woman and hurled racial slurs at her in a road rage incident. According to ABC13, the June 20 incident involving Kevin Roth, 30, and the unidentified Black woman, escalated after the victim honked back at him.
The woman told the news outlet that she was in front of Roth at a red light when the suspect honked at her after it switched to green. She also honked back, causing Roth to brandish his gun and pursue her; rear-ending her vehicle in the process.
“That’s when I just took off, speeding to a gas station to a public area, because I had already seen that gun in the car. So I didn’t want to just pull over like a regular car accident,” she recalled.
RELATED STORIES
Roth is said to have followed the victim to a Phillips 66 gas station and repeatedly aimed his gun at her as she tried to seek refuge. He also blocked the woman’s car and tried to remove her keys when she later tried to drive away. Besides rear-ending the victim’s car again, the victim said Roth hurled racial slurs at her, adding that it made her feel her life was in danger.
“I honestly didn’t think he would pull a gun out in public and chase me. He was like, ‘Get on the ground right now!’ He could have shot me. He was aiming a gun. I could tell he was kind of scared himself. He was shaking his hand. That’s why I was scared. ‘I’m scared because you’re scared.’ He could have done anything to me just out of fear,” she said.
Roth was later arrested by Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies after they responded to the scene. “My heart was just racing. When the police got there, I was just like in tears,” the victim recalled.
The Black woman’s mother also labeled the incident as “sickening.” “This could have ended a lot worse. I’m thankful to God that everything didn’t escalate as far as it could have (gone). That’s just not OK. Guns don’t belong in some people’s hands, in their possessions,” her mother added.
Roth was released the following day on a $25,000 bond. The victim’s mother, however, told ABC13 she fears Roth might retaliate as he knows their address. “What makes matters even worse is this man lives about two miles away from us. So how do we feel protected when he lives that close?” she questioned.
However, a spokesperson with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office told the news outlet that state law requires individuals involved in car accidents to share their contact details with each other.
