Placer judge decides whether to uphold indictment in deadly Rocklin road rage case
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- A Placer Superior Court judge upheld an indictment in a deadly Rocklin road rage case.
- A father and his adult son are accused in the death of a man beaten with a metal wrench.
- The defense will seek another bail review hearing for the son who remains in jail custody.
A Placer Superior Court judge on Thursday upheld a criminal grand jury indictment against a father and his adult son who are accused in a deadly Rocklin road rage confrontation.
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.
The grand jury indicted Blake Rakela on a charge of murder along with an enhancement that alleges he used a deadly weapon (the metal wrench) in the crime. Anthony Rakela faces two felony charges in the grand jury indictment: assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon with force likely to cause great bodily injury.
The Rakelas, of Rocklin, have both pleaded not guilty to the charges they face. The father’s arraignment hearing was held about a month after his son’s arraignment. Anthony Rakela remains free on $50,000 bail.
Linda Parisi, Blake Rakela’s defense attorney who also appeared on behalf of his father on Thursday, challenged the indictment. Criminal grand juries in California are presented evidence by prosecutors in a closed courtroom without defendants or defense attorneys present.
Judge Colleen Nichols denied the defense’s motion to dismiss the indictment. Nichols said the defense did not prove that prosecutors failed to present evidence to the grand jury that would clear the Rakelas of some or all the charges against them.
The judge also ruled that the defense failed to show that prosecutors did not properly instruct the grand jury, including telling the grand jurors that they needed to make a decision “in service to the community.” Nichols said that quote was taken completely out of context.
Nichols denied the defense’s claim that prosecutors inappropriately allowed law enforcement officials to partially narrate video evidence while it was presented to the grand jury.
Road rage confrontation
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.
At a June bail review hearing 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.”
Parisi 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.”
What’s next in the murder case?
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.
On Thursday, Parisi asked the judge to schedule another bail review hearing for her client, who has remained in custody for that past seven months at the Placer County Jail after the grand jury indicted him and his father.
The accused father was released on bail hours after authorities arrested him and his son May 15. In the June bail review hearing, 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.
Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire, who appeared on behalf of Tellman on Thursday morning, opposed the defense’s request. Gire told the judge that Blake Rakela has already had a bail review hearing, and there’s no new evidence or information in the murder case.
Nichols scheduled the Rakelas to return to court Dec. 22, when she hopes the court will have already assigned a judge who will handle all further proceedings in this criminal case. She said the defense can then ask that judge for another bail review hearing.
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 11:56 AM.
