‘Still in shock.’ FedEx driver chased down by man shouting racial slurs, Oregon cops say

Just a few weeks into a new FedEx delivery job, a 22-year-old Oregon man found himself faced with an angry man blocking his truck in the street.

A resident walked out of his home in Aloha about 1 p.m. Sunday to stand in front of the driver’s truck as he made deliveries to shout racial slurs at him, Washington County sheriff’s officials wrote on Facebook.

“I’m still in shock,” said driver Akiel Horn, who is Black, KPTV reported. But it didn’t end there.

After Horn maneuvered around him to continue on his route, the man chased him down in his own vehicle, sheriff’s officials reported.

Horn could see what appeared to be a pistol in the vehicle, and the man told him, “I’m not afraid to use it,” deputies reported. Sheriff’s officials say it was a realistic-looking pellet gun without an orange tip.

“I didn’t know it was a BB gun,” Horn said, KPTV reported. “I’m thinking it’s a real gun. The first thing that popped in my mind was, ‘oh, I’m going to die,’ but then I said, ‘no, I’m not’ – he gave me enough room to get out, thank God, and I got out.”

Horn escaped and called 911, the Facebook post says. Deputies arrested Rodney Bryant, 68, of Aloha, on suspicion of bias crime in the first degree, unlawful use of a weapon, and menacing.

Bryant’s wife, Joyce Harmon, told KPTV her husband is “not a bully” and said he confronted Horn because he was speeding.

Bryant’s bail was set at $10,000, sheriff’s officials wrote.

Oregon law says a bias crime, a felony, takes place when someone “intentionally, because of the person’s perception of another person’s race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or national origin, places another person in fear of imminent serious physical injury,” the Facebook post says.

This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 11:52 AM with the headline "‘Still in shock.’ FedEx driver chased down by man shouting racial slurs, Oregon cops say."