A Hillsboro father and son are facing several charges in an alleged road rage incident which led to the pair assaulting a teenage boy and his girlfriend who were reportedly on a Valentine’s Day date.
John Hester, 48, and Brett Hester, 21, appeared at Hillsboro Municipal Court on Feb. 28 and will return to court for a pre-trail hearing Tuesday, March 14 at 9:30 a.m.
Both are charged with abduction, a third-degree felony; unlawful restraint, a third-degree misdemeanor; and two counts assault, first-degree misdemeanors.
“Two juveniles, a 16-year-old male and a 15-year-old female, called in and reported that they had been blocked in by two vehicles on State Route 138 near Morrow Road and were removed from the vehicle and assaulted,” said Sgt. Vincent Antinore of the Highland County Sheriff’s Office. “They said that they had taken a turn too sharp when they were on North High Street (in Hillsboro) turning left on 138. They said they didn’t know the people, but when they took the turn too sharp, the two vehicles turned around and started following them and boxed them in.”
That allegedly happened in the Morrow Road area earlier this month.
The suspects were driving separate vehicles and after getting a description of them from the victims, sheriff’s office deputies obtained surveillance video from a local business and were able to identify the owner of one of the vehicles as John Hester, Antinore said.
“John has a son named Bret Hester, and during the incident, the victims alleged that John was assaulting the juveniles and the juvenile male fought back, and that’s when Bret Hester ran up and said something to the effect of, ‘You’re not going to do that to my dad,’ and then the two of them began assaulting the juveniles,” said Antinore.
Antinore said when he interviewed Hesters, they both admitted that the altercation turned physical, and the pair were subsequently arrested.
According to court records, the boy suffered a black eye and several bruises, and the girl suffered a cut on her leg.
“When I interviewed John, he said that the incident started — he was angry because they almost struck him when they made the turn,” said Antinore. “He said that it initially scared him and that it turned into anger.”
Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.
