A 43-year-old Fairfield man was arrested after another driver reported he was yelling at him and swing a machete out the window toward him on Route 15 south between Meriden and New Haven, police said.
Richard Walzak, 43, of Fairfield, is facing breach of peace and threatening charges in a reported road rage incident.
A man driving on Route 15 called 911 at about 5:45 p.m. on Monday to report another driver in a white SUV was following him and "screaming at him from his moving vehicle and waiving a large machete towards him and out the window," state police said.
Troopers responded as the SUV followed the person calling from Meriden to exit 59 in New Haven, state police said. The SUV got off the highway at exit 59 to Route 69 in New Haven and was soon stopped by state police.
Police identified the driver as Walzak when they looked at his license and got his consent to search the car. That's when officers found a large machete behind the passenger-side seat, state police said.
Walzak denied he was involved in a road rage incident or any incident on the highway and refused to provide a sworn written statement, state police said.
The victim provided police with a sworn statement.
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State police took Walzak into custody, charging him with second-degree breach of peace and second-degree threatening.
He was released from custody on a $3,000 surety bond and is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on Nov. 9.
