Driver charged in Newton road-rage stabbing says 60-year-old approached him "aggressively out of nowhere"

A driver accused of stabbing a 60-year-old man in a road rage incident in Newton, Massachusetts said he was defending himself.

Albeldy Manuel Pinales-Villar, 28, was arraigned in Newton District Court Tuesday, a day after the violent confrontation. He pleaded not guilty to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Bail was set at $5,000 with the condition that he have no contact with the alleged victim in the case.

Police said Pinales-Villar bumped into the man's car while the 60-year-old was leaving his home around 2 p.m. Monday on Drumlin Road in Newton.

Investigators said the unidentified man tried to get Pinales-Villar to stop to exchange information, but Pinales-Villar allegedly passed him and blocked his car in.

According to the prosecution, the 60-year-old man got out of his car, approached Pinales-Villar to get his information, and was stabbed in the ribs before Pinales-Villar left the scene.

The man was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston with non-life-threatening injuries and was later released.

Police were able to use Pinales-Villar's license plate to find him at his home and arrest him.

"The fact that this was such a violent crime against a stranger due to a minor incident of road rage is very concerning to the Commonwealth," the prosecutor said while unsuccessfully arguing for higher bail. "We have strong concerns for public safety, and that is why we are asking for the condition for the defendant not drive and that he be on home confinement and possess no dangerous weapons."

Pinales-Villar's defense attorney Christine Breslin argued there was no contact between the two cars. Breslin said there are two videos that show the 60-year-old man approaching Pinales-Villar's car and telling him to get out.

The attorney said Pinales-Villar took one of the videos, which she told the judge shows the entire incident.

"So essentially, what we have is an incident that's very unclear," Breslin said, adding that Pinales-Villar was protecting himself from a stranger who was coming at him "aggressively out of nowhere."

Pinales-Villar is due back in court on Nov. 10.