Victim stabbed during apparent road rage incident in Atascadero

November 8, 2022

By KAREN VELIE

A man allegedly stabbed another man near Jamba Juice in downtown Atascadero on Monday evening during an alleged road rage incident.

Shortly before 7 p.m., a caller reported a man had stabbed a victim near the corner of El Camino Real and Highway 41. Officers arrived at the scene, but the suspect had fled.

First responders transported the victim to a local hospital. Officials have not yet released the name and condition of the victim.

The victim took a photo of the suspect’s vehicle as he drove away, which he provided to officers.

Later in the evening, Atascadero police officers arrested 67-year-old Gary Benites at the Walmart parking lot in Paso Robles and booked him in the San Luis Obispo County Jail on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, according to the jail website. His bail is set at $25,000.

Last November, Benites responded to Al Fonzi in the SLO New Times, saying that reading the conservative writer’s opinions “triggered” him. Benites also wrote of his distrust of “so-called patriots.”

This is the second violent road rage incident in SLO County during the past four days. On Friday, one person was shot and killed during a road rage altercation in rural Arroyo Grande.