A 61-year-old Arizona woman was assaulted while on the road driving her Tesla earlier this month.
Cameras on the woman’s Tesla captured the incident in full. The woman, “Susan,” was driving on Route 66 near Flagstaff on March 19 at around 12:30 pm when an assailant driving a green 1990s Toyota Cavalier with gray front and rear bumpers chased and then blocked her vehicle on the roadway.
The male assailant then exited the driver’s side and rushed the driver’s side of Susan’s Tesla. Her assailant reportedly reached into the Tesla and struck Susan multiple times with his fist, only ceasing after Susan bit the male assailant on the hand and the passenger of the Toyota approached and pulled him away. The assailant and his passenger then entered the Toyota and sped away. The male assailant was a bald, white male wearing a light gray hoodie and knee-length jean capris. The passenger with the assailant was a white-skinned individual wearing a faded black zip-up hoodie and jeans.
Susan said she initially didn’t understand why her assailant had pulled them over and was “appalled” by the attack.
“I didn’t buy my car for a political statement. I bought my car because it’s really fun to drive. My politics have nothing to do with that. I’m ashamed of our society and what they are doing,” said Susan. “I started to say, ‘You cut me off, what’s your problem?’ but I don’t know how much of that got out. He got out and started to punch me with a closed fist.”
This attack is among the latest in a nationwide flurry of anti-Trump violence against Tesla owners and dealerships. On Saturday, protesters convened at Tesla dealerships in Arizona and other states as part of “Tesla Takedown”: a coordinated protest against the authority of the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, under President Donald Trump. Musk leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with reducing the size and spending of the federal government.
Congressman Abe Hamadeh called for action against the assault and the others like it occurring across the country.
“Unable to come to terms with their historic loss in November, & spurred on by the incendiary anti-Elon rhetoric of the leaders of their party, the radical left has resorted to violence,” said Hamadeh. “This needs to stop before more people are hurt.”
This 61-year-old woman was assaulted while driving Route 66 near Flagstaff, Arizona.
Her “crime?” Driving a Tesla.
Unable to come to terms with their historic loss in November, & spurred on by the incendiary anti-Elon rhetoric of the leaders of their party, the radical left has… pic.twitter.com/a6LBLa7Fkj
— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) March 30, 2025
Flagstaff police did confirm their apprehension of a suspect in the attack and a court date set for Monday, March 31 in a statement to AZ Family. The police did not provide the name of the suspected assailant due in court.
Another woman told AZ Family that she discovered a note on her Tesla vehicle in the grocery store parking lot this month accusing her of being a “Nazi and a loser.” That same woman alleged to have received a threatening text calling her a “racist POS.”
Both women disclosed the incidents prompted them to begin attending a gun safety course at Timberline Firearms north of Flagstaff in order to defend themselves against any future attacks.