Road rage incident results in citation

Published 10:14 am Friday, January 9, 2009

An incident of road rage Thursday night ended with an Austin man cited.

Justin Thomas Rios, 20, was cited for disorderly conduct after he allegedly followed Martin Espe, 41, of Albert Lea, harassing and throwing things at his vehicle.

According to the Austin police report, at around 9:30 p.m., both Rios and Espe were eastbound on Interstate 90 when Rios, who had been following Espe, moved into the passing lane and switched on his brights. Espe then moved over and tapped his breaks twice before moving back into the left lane.

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Rios then pulled back in behind Espe and reportedly threw an unknown object at Espe.

Espe got off at the West Oakland exit at which time Rios stopped on the interstate, reversed to the exit ramp and began following Espe again, continuing through town where he once again threw something at Espe’s car before running a stop light. Espe then told police he stopped and picked up the item thrown.

The report doesn’t state what was thrown in either case. Police then pulled over Rios and cited him. A second officer made contact with Espe who related the story which was collaborated by his three passengers.

There was no indication of prior history between the two.