Father accused in deadly Rocklin road rage makes first Placer court appearance
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Anthony Rakela faces assault charges after deadly road rage in Rocklin, CA.
- A grand jury indictment moved the case directly to trial, skipping preliminary hearing.
- Blake Rakela remains jailed on murder charge; court cited public safety concerns.
A father accused along with his son in a deadly road rage confrontation in Rocklin made his first appearance Monday in Placer Superior Court to face charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
Anthony David Rakela Jr., 60, and his son, Blake Anthony Rakela, 20, are accused in the March 15 incident that ended with the death of Jeremy Styles, 55. A prosecutor has said in court that Blake Rakela used a large metal wrench to hit Styles, and his father assisted him in committing the crime.
Blake Rakela has been charged with murder along with an enhancement that alleges he used a deadly weapon (the metal wrench) in the crime. Court records show Anthony Rakela faces two felony charges: assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon with force likely to cause great bodily injury.
Jessica Graves, Anthony Rakela’s attorney, appeared with him at his arraignment Monday afternoon. Graves entered a not guilty plea on her client’s behalf.
Monday was the accused father’s first appearance in court since he and his son were arrested May 15. Anthony Rakela was released on $50,000 bail, court records show.
Rakela’s son remains in custody at the Placer County Jail. At a hearing last week, Judge Jeffrey Penney said Blake Rakela would pose a threat to the public if he were to be released from jail and ordered that he remain ineligible for bail.
On Monday, Judge Colleen Nichols scheduled Anthony Rakela to return to court July 14 when his case and his son’s case can be joined. He waived his right to a trial within 60 days.
Father and son first arrested
Styles died in the incident reported about 8:45 p.m. March 15 at the intersection of Whitney Ranch Parkway and Whitney Oaks Drive in a residential neighborhood just southwest of McCormick Park.
The Rakelas, both of Rocklin, were initially arrested shortly after the violent confrontation on suspicion of homicide and criminal conspiracy in Styles’ death, the Rocklin Police Department announced at the time in a news release.
The Police Department was investigating Styles’ death as a road rage incident, which escalated to a fight in the intersection. Officers arrived at the scene and found Styles on the ground and unresponsive, police said at the time. Police said officers began life-saving efforts until medics arrived. Styles was pronounced dead at the scene.
The arrested father and son remained in custody until their March 18 arraignment hearing, when the judge ordered them released after prosecutors informed the court they would not be filing charges against the Rakelas at that time.
After the arraignment, the Placer County District Attorney’s Office said in a written statement that “additional time is needed to ensure that the charges brought, if any, are supported by the facts and the law.”
Prosecutors said their initial review of the gathered evidence included witness statements, audio recordings and video, and additional time was needed to “shed light on the physical confrontation that led to the Mr. Style’s death.” They also said their investigation would continue until all available evidence was collected and submitted to the District Attorney’s Office.
Last month, a criminal grand jury indicted the Rakelas in connection with Styles’ death. Criminal grand jury proceedings are held in closed courtrooms with a prosecutor presenting testimony and evidence to determine whether there is enough evidence to charge defendants.
The grand jury indictment means the criminal case against the Rakelas skips the preliminary hearing phase and moves straight to trial. The trial has not yet been scheduled.
How road rage unfolded
At a bail review hearing last week for Blake Rakela, his defense attorney and the prosecutor revealed details about how the road rage confrontation unfolded.
Deputy District Attorney David Tellman told the judge that Blake Rakela was wielding “a very large wrench” when he attacked Styles.
“The defendant takes multiple swings with that wrench, ultimately killing him with a baseball-style swing to the head,” Tellman said in court. “Anyone who would kill somebody with a wrench over a traffic incident poses a risk to the public.”
Linda Parisi, Blake Rakela’s defense attorney, argued that Styles got out of his vehicle with a tire iron and used it to hit her client’s vehicle, threatening to injure him.
“It happened because (Styles) is the one who got out of the car first, introduced not only physical confrontation, but physical threats,” Parisi told the judge. “(Rakela) gets out of the car with the wrench because (Styles) has gotten out of his car with a tire iron.”
Parisi said Styles tried to run her client’s vehicle off the road, and her client followed Styles’ vehicle to get the license plate number. She told the judge her client and his father called 911 and remained at the scene, taking turns performing CPR on Styles until authorities arrived.
The prosecutor argued that Styles lost his life over a dispute when the two vehicles that night merged on a Rocklin street. The prosecutor said Rakela “chased” and “goaded” Styles for several miles and called his father for help. Tellman said Anthony Rakela tackled Styles and disarmed him when his son swung the metal wrench at Styles.
