Road rage suspect attacked family with pepper spray, Palo Alto police say
By Tim Fang
A woman has been arrested on multiple charges after she allegedly attacked a family during a road rage incident in Palo Alto over the weekend, police said.
According to officers, the incident took place on the 700 block of Embarcadero Road, near Middlefield Road, around 5:45 p.m. Saturday.
The victim, a man in his 20s, reported to police that the incident began when he was driving eastbound on Embarcadero with his family. While attempting to change lanes, the driver of a gray Nissan Sentra would not allow him to move over and would accelerate to prevent him from making a lane change.
At a stop light, police said the suspect made a U-turn and struck the victim’s vehicle. Following the collision, the suspect exited her vehicle and proceeded to threaten the victim.
Police said the suspect then struck the victim with her keys and pepper sprayed him. The victim’s passenger got out of the vehicle and was also pepper sprayed by the suspect.
Four children in the vehicle, ages 9, 4, 4 and 1, were also exposed to pepper spray during the incident. Firefighters provided medical aid to the family at the scene.
Authorities were able to identify 26-year-old Mahima Yaqoob of Lakeport as the suspect in the case. The following day, police arrested Yaqoob in South San Francisco without incident.
Yaqoob was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of six counts of assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful use of tear gas, which are both felonies. Police said she is also accused of four counts of child endangerment, criminal threats and driving with a suspended license.
