Felony charges were filed Monday against a 54-year-old Long Beach man accused in a road rage collision that left a motorcyclist hospitalized in critical condition.
Michael Eugene Begin is scheduled to be arraigned sometime Monday on one count of failing to stop at a hit-and-run collision with injury and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, with sentencing enhancement allegations of inflicting great bodily injury.
The collision happened just after 6 p.m. last Monday at Orangethorpe Avenue and Hundley Way. Two motorcyclists who left work together in east Anaheim were riding together when they got into a dispute with Begin, who was driving a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, said Placentia police Sgt. Bryce Angel.
At some point, “words were exchanged” at a stop light between the motorcyclists and Begin, Angel said.
A short time later, Begin allegedly “clipped the rear tire” of one of the motorcycles from behind with his truck, and the victim was ejected and slammed into a retaining wall, the sergeant said. The motorcycle then veered onto a sidewalk and slammed into a pedestrian, who broke his leg, Angel said.
The motorcyclist was rushed to an area hospital in critical condition. An update on the rider’s condition was not immediately available.
Begin was arrested just before 4 p.m. last Tuesday at a work site in Laguna Woods, Angel said.
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