Man accused of baseball bat attack in road-rage incident arrested

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A man who is accused of assaulting another man with a baseball bat during a road rage incident faced a judge Wednesday morning.

According to court documents, officers went to the 100 block of Liberty Street where a man reported being assaulted by another person on the northwest side of the city. The male victim accused Sterling Pankratz, 34, of damaging his car and assaulting him in a road rage incident along Sawmill Road on Nov. 16.

Columbus police said that the two crashed on Sawmill Road and began to argue after the incident. Pankratz allegedly threw an object through the other man’s car, then sped away. The victim reportedly followed Pankratz to take a photo of his license plate, and they both stopped again at the intersection of Sawmill and Billingsley Road near the New Market Shopping Center.

Police said Pankratz got out of his car wielding a baseball bat and began to strike the victim’s car. When the victim got out of his vehicle to run away, Pankratz allegedly struck him several times. The victim, who suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung, drove to his residence in the Brewery District and called for help.

Police used photos from the victim’s phone to identify the owner of the car in question and arrested Pankratz on Tuesday. He was issued a $150,000 bond, ordered to stay away from the victim and scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 8 for a preliminary hearing.