Irvine man arrested for apparent hate crime during road rage incident

Irvine police arrested a 54-year-old man after he allegedly shouted racial slurs and threw a hot cup of coffee at a Hispanic driver on Tuesday morning. 

The road rage incident that's being investigated as a hate crime happened on Sand Canyon Avenue near the 5 Freeway, according to the Irvine Police Department. Detectives said Robert Leon Tackett, 54, started shouting at the other driver before following the victim through Irvine. 

Tackett allegedly drove aggressively and swerved into the victim's lane multiple times, nearly causing a crash. After, Tackett threw a hot cop of coffee that landed on the victim's face, hands and car interior, according to Irvine PD. 

Police said the victim recorded most of the incident and a family member posted it onto social. 

The driver contacted Irvine police late Wednesday night, and officers arrested Tackett the following day for a hate crime and aggravated assault.

Detectives asked any possible victims, witnesses, or people with additional footage of the incident to contact the investigators at rsteen@cityofirvine.org.