Man attacked with flashlight in Sonoma County road rage incident

Road rage played out Tuesday afternoon east of Petaluma, leaving one man injured after he was beaten with a metal flashlight, deputies said.

The incident started at Highway 37 and Lakeville Highway, as the suspect, Robert Lind, 27, of Glen Ellen, was trying to pass another driver in a silver Ford Fusion, Sonoma County sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum said Wednesday. Lind told deputies the other driver wouldn’t let him in.

It wasn’t until miles later, as traffic stopped at the intersection of Stage Gulch and Adobe roads, that Lind got out of his pickup and approached the Ford, Crum said. Lind pulled the driver, a 62-year-old Sonoma man, out of the car and repeatedly hit him in the head and face with an 8-inch flashlight and then kicked the man when he fell to the ground, ?Crum said.

Witnesses called 911 at 3:50 p.m. to report the attack. Several drivers intervened, taking Lind’s truck keys, Crum said. At least five witnesses stayed to talk to several deputies and CHP officers who responded.

Petaluma fire paramedics treated the victim for blunt force trauma, cuts and scratches and head and face injuries.

The man was released at the scene but whether he sought his own ride to a hospital wasn’t clear Wednesday.

Crum declined to release the man’s name, saying he was a victim of a violent crime.

Deputies arrested Lind on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Lind was booked into Sonoma County Jail but was released after posting $30,000 bail.

Crum asked witnesses who haven’t already been interviewed to call the Sheriff’s Office at 707-565-2650.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.