BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — A Kern County man faces up to 13 years in prison after being convicted of assault. The DA’s office said the man drove his SUV into a victim’s car, causing the car to go into a canal during a road rage incident in 2020.
Kern County District Attorney’s Office said on February 24, 2026, a Kern County jury found Abel Rodriguez Almanza guilty of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of reckless driving following a road rage incident.
The DA’s office said on June 23, 2020, Almanza pursued the victims, a married couple, for several miles after becoming enraged during a merge in traffic on Highway 99. After the initial confrontation, Almanza continued to follow the victims off the freeway and onto surface streets…