Man, 71, accused of beating woman after fender bender
TACOMA, Wash. -- Prosecutors charged an elderly Tacoma man with assault and malicious harassment following a violent incident of road rage that sent one woman to the hospital.
Police say 71-year-old William Zesbaugh was upset Monday afternoon when he felt a car had cut him off on Pearl Street in Tacoma.
Zesbaugh began tailgating the car while honking his horn, and when the driver -- Lu-Ann Branch -- pulled up to a stop sign near the ferry terminal, police say Zesbaugh rammed her car.
Branch got out and approached Zesbaugh to exchange insurance information, at which point police say he opened his trunk and grabbed a weapon.
"He got out of his car went to trunk and took out this instrument called the 'Club,'" Branch said.
Police say he viciously hit Branch with Club two times and only stopped the attack when a ferry worker stepped in to intervene.
After putting the Club back in his trunk, Zesbaugh walked over to Branch and her passenger, Kelli Nichols, and said, "I can tell you're lesbians. I should beat the crap out of you," according to prosecutors.
While Branch suffered the physical wounds in the attack, Nichols said the driver's verbal attack left her traumatized.
"This was road rage morphed into a hate crime," she said.
She said as a lesbian, she's never felt so threatened and frightened.
"It was shocking and scary that this could happen here," she said.
After the attack, Zesbaugh got back into his car and drove off before police arrived, telling the women, "I'm gonna get you for this" as he drove by their car, prosecutors say.
Officers soon spotted Zesbaugh at a red light and blocked him in. As he was being taken to a patrol car, police say Zesbaugh told the arresting officer, "I should have hit her a lot harder if I'm going to get in trouble for it."
Branch was taken to a local hospital to be treated for a deep gash on her forearm that required 11 stitches.
Zesbaugh was arraigned on Tuesday and his bail was set at $10,000.
Police say 71-year-old William Zesbaugh was upset Monday afternoon when he felt a car had cut him off on Pearl Street in Tacoma.
Zesbaugh began tailgating the car while honking his horn, and when the driver -- Lu-Ann Branch -- pulled up to a stop sign near the ferry terminal, police say Zesbaugh rammed her car.
Branch got out and approached Zesbaugh to exchange insurance information, at which point police say he opened his trunk and grabbed a weapon.
"He got out of his car went to trunk and took out this instrument called the 'Club,'" Branch said.
Police say he viciously hit Branch with Club two times and only stopped the attack when a ferry worker stepped in to intervene.
After putting the Club back in his trunk, Zesbaugh walked over to Branch and her passenger, Kelli Nichols, and said, "I can tell you're lesbians. I should beat the crap out of you," according to prosecutors.
While Branch suffered the physical wounds in the attack, Nichols said the driver's verbal attack left her traumatized.
"This was road rage morphed into a hate crime," she said.
She said as a lesbian, she's never felt so threatened and frightened.
"It was shocking and scary that this could happen here," she said.
After the attack, Zesbaugh got back into his car and drove off before police arrived, telling the women, "I'm gonna get you for this" as he drove by their car, prosecutors say.
Officers soon spotted Zesbaugh at a red light and blocked him in. As he was being taken to a patrol car, police say Zesbaugh told the arresting officer, "I should have hit her a lot harder if I'm going to get in trouble for it."
Branch was taken to a local hospital to be treated for a deep gash on her forearm that required 11 stitches.
Zesbaugh was arraigned on Tuesday and his bail was set at $10,000.
10, 000 bail equals 1,000 bond, right? Must be former law enforcement or someone's dad.
Whats wrong with being gay or lesbian? I mean who cares and please dont beat up women.
Let me understand correctly. "Zesbaugh began tailgating the car while honking his horn, and when the driver -- Lu-Ann Branch -- pulled up to a stop sign near the ferry terminal, police say Zesbaugh rammed her car. Branch got out and approached Zesbaugh to exchange insurance information, at which point police say he opened his trunk and grabbed a weapon."   A crazy person is following you, honking his horn, making threatening gestures. He then rams your car and instead of calling 911, you GET OUT AND APPROACH him?? LOL.  Personal responsibility.  Sigh. Why on earth would someone egg on a nut case ready to explode?
@Northend I would have done the same thing she did except I have a concealed weapons permit and if he went to his trunk and pulled a weapon out of his trunk I will fully defend from that.
 @nunof uors of course you would. But if you're NOT armed, don't engage the crazies.Â
@Northend agreed .
just wait this older gen. type will soon die off and things will be a lot better for all of us.
 @nunof uors yeah, the new generation is better, they just shoot
@mune237 the older seem to be more racist against women rights and against civil rights and also are Rep.
Could have been worse. Could have been guns involved. Just saying.
 @Klondiko I agree. Those women definitely should have had a gun to level the playing field. They are lucky he stopped when he did, this story could have had a much worse ending.
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Being at some unbalanced individuals mercy is NOT on my to-do list.
Ouch! 11 stitches? Old geezer should've gotten a FAT LIP!
What a hateful old man, glad to see people like him starting to die off. Thinking about it and doing it are pretty far apart Puzzy. and I am sorry but there is no typical female drivers.
Thanks to all the political correctness and feminism, the obvious short comings of female drivers due to genetic differences will never be addressed, and I donât understand how being passive aggressive (typical female driving style) behind the wheels is any better than actual physical aggression. Itâs so much easier to blame others for being crazy and aggressive, yet, no one wants to have a discussion on how to be a better driver that makes everyoneâs commute a little easier. This man may have an anger control issue, but I know for a fact that most people in some point of their life THOUGHT about beating the crap out of someone doing âpassive aggressiveâ BS on the road.
 @PuzzleFighter "obvious short comings of female drivers due to genetic differences"
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Cool. Learn something new every day. <-sarcasm.
 @PuzzleFighter Sorry but passive aggressive is a NW trait, not a female trait.Â
 @PuzzleFighter The obvious shortcomings of female drivers? Do you always make such sweeping generalizations? I'm a female driver with a lead foot and the last thing anyone would use to describe me is "passive aggressive."
@tats76 @PuzzleFighter Personally, this female driver would like to rip off his genetic difference and show him his shortcoming. I don't have a lead foot, I just make Decisions and Act on them which is what I find most drivers don't do often enough.
 @PuzzleFighter While many issues in the Western world can be attributed to feminism, I don't think this is one of them. I've seen equally bad male and female drivers; one sex or creed doesn't seem to have the monopoly on bad driving. I've been mad as heck at other drivers but never seriously entertained the thought of assaulting one because they were in my way. If you think that's OK behavior then you need help with your impulse control problem just like this guy.Â
@dg54321 another one of you that can't read and like to base your argument on exceptions. I know plenty of male who are emotional, and plenty of females logical, but does that mean it's the NORM? and please help me point out anywhere in my comment that I actually beat up someone for their bad driving?
@PuzzleFighter it was not the bad driving that got him in trouble it was his actions w/ these two women just minding there own minds.
 @PuzzleFighter  @dg54321 Hey lets get on teh internetz and start arguments! It's supes cool.
I guess the old guy wasn't too fond of Lesbo's. What the hell is this country coming to? They ought to charge the old fart with a hate crime
 @Telman@ I disagree. It's a hate crime when you do something bad to someone BECAUSE they are the way they are. This guy did something regardless of whether they were lesbians or not.
this guy would have done*
This homophobe better be charged with an hate crime! There is certainly enough evidence. He tried to kill her. This has got to stop.
@Butch1 He tried to kill her by hitting her on the arm with the Club?
Good thing there was a good samaritan able to step in and help this poor lady. Next time there might not be. There is a reason that the LGBT community is one of the largest growing demographics to apply for concealed carry permits....unfortunately they are often the target of assaults like this (don't like the term "hate crime"...when is an assault NOT a "hate crime"?).
What? Is that a typo; 'bail was set at $10,000', did they omit at least one more zero? That is a little low for attempted murder with an ambition to pursue his murderous revenge. Holy Buckets, he went on to threaten; "I'm gonna get you for this". and "I should have hit her a lot harder if I'm going to get in trouble for it." I don't feel comfortable with this guy getting out cheap and being in public with my wife and kids.
@semprecoraggio I can't figure out where comments about attempting to kill her are originating from. She got stitches in her arm.Â
Perhaps she put her arms to shield her face and head. Does she actually have life threatening wounds for it to be attempted murder?
 @semprecoraggio This doesn't fit the bill of attempted murder. The guy stopped well short of life threatening injuries, and clearly wasn't restrained by the worker since he was able to get in his car and drive away after calmly putting away his club. (Although I agree, bail should be MUCH higher, and this guy is a POS that needs to do some serious jail time.)
 @semprecoraggio Bail is BS....
This guy is a lunatic. Whether you THINK someone has cut you off or not, there was no damage to his car, prior to him ramming hers. And seriously, he then rams his car into hers, and proceeds to beat her up? Totally off his rocker and I'm glad the police caught him - he's part of what's wrong with society today.
 @tats76 Yeah...he didn't have to keep going after her, but he did...and now we can add hate crime to the pile...what a freak!
What a mean old man....
On a different note, people should be considerate to other drivers and not CUT THEM OFF AND CHEAT!!!!!
 @8nthegate "Police say 71-year-old William Zesbaugh was upset Monday afternoon when he felt a car had cut him off on Pearl Street in Tacoma."
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When he FELT a car had cut him off. Who knows what this lunatic thinks. Except that beating up a woman over an imagined slight is okay.
@tats76 @8nthegate And he beat her with a WEAPON! He wasnt even man enough to fight her straight up. Not much of a man.
 @scared_citizen I wish they would clarify what they mean - they said he got out an instrument called "The Club," which locks your steering wheel, totally different than, say, a golf club. I'm definitely NOT excusing what he did, just wondering what exactly the coward used to hit a woman.
 @8nthegate And on that note, it could have been an imagined slight because you know... this guy is effing crazy.
Dude is a threat to everybody. To bad she wasn't packin, she woulda been justified to blow a couple holes in him!
You young'uns are cracking me up! Seventy-one is the new 60. As you age, you get older, you get much wiser and most surprising, your mind stays pretty much the same - which makes a good argument for spending your 20's and 30's being kind, peaceful, appreciative and avoiding rash judgments about other people's motives before you get all the facts. This guy is a real jerk but it has nothing to do with his age. He has probably been a jerk his whole life, only with age some peoples' normal social inhibitions get weaker. He needs to be evaluated for dementia. And then he needs his license revoked, and a whole lot of community service. This kind of organic problem won't be fixed by prison time. He is already becoming a prisoner of his own mind.Â
...what does it matter if she was gay. It has nothing to do with it. Too bad she was not armed, we would be without one more bully. At some point in the future he will probably snap over something else and hurt more people. We do not need his kind.
Holy cr@p. Just another reason for old people to lose their licenses.
 @SouthofSeattle Don't judge others by one incident. I am 72 and have never attacked someone just because they were a poor driver. I have however, thought about it when someone was rude.
 @whitewings2003 As I said, just ANOTHER reason to take away the licenses of the elderly. There are too many incidences of old people running others over, 'mistaking' the gas for the brake, falling asleep, etc. A little girl was run over down the street from my house by an old lady a few years back. She didn't even stop, but turned around the block and put her car in her garage. Sorry, but there are limits to all privileges and age should be a factor for a driving license. My opinion, deal with it.
Age aside, there are how many criminal charges here? Harassment, assault and battery, leaving the scene of an accident.....The guy is a menace, get him some Thorazine:Â
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@Smokin Bear -- WA doesn't recognize "battery" it's just assault. Don't forget the hate crime element. If he actually said what theyâve alleged he said, then it's a hate crime. Stupid old goat should have stopped with the assault, not need to raise the criminal charges.
I think he needs a good right cross to the jaw