Woman avoids conviction in felony road rage case

A woman whose road rage was captured on cellphone video and posted on YouTube is getting a chance to keep her criminal record clear and avoid conviction for unlawfully reaching into another motorist’s vehicle.

Kimberly Ann Jeffrey Ong, 48, of Diamond Head pleaded no contest in June to unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle. She also asked for a deferral of her plea.

The charge is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Circuit Judge Christine E. Kuriyama granted Ong’s deferral request Monday. To avoid conviction and to have the charge cleared from her record, Ong must stay out of trouble for the next four years. Kuriyama also ordered Ong to serve a two-day jail term, which Ong already completed following her arrest.

During the four-year deferral period, Ong must abide by probationlike restrictions and, if her probation officer recommends it, get mental health counseling and anger management training.

Ong turned herself in to Honolulu police in September, two days after her confrontation with a motorist who recorded the video and posted it on the Internet.

Ryan Arakaki said the incident happened on Radford Drive in Moanalua. He said he drove his pickup truck around Ong’s minivan after seeing that Ong was looking at her phone and that her vehicle wasn’t moving.

The video then shows Ong following and driving into the opposing lane of traffic to pull up alongside Arakaki’s pickup truck to swear at and taunt him. The video also shows a young boy sitting in the van’s front passenger seat during the confrontation.

The van then pulls ahead of the pickup truck and stops at an intersection. On the video’s audio Ong can be heard challenging Arakaki to step out of his vehicle to fight her. When Arakaki honks his horn, Ong steps out of her minivan and walks toward Arakaki’s truck. As she steps out of the van, someone can be heard yelling “Mom” from inside the van.

The video shows Ong continuing to swear at and taunt Arakaki as she stands next to his vehicle and reaches into the truck through the driver’s window. She continues to taunt Arakaki as he drives off, going around Ong’s minivan.