Josh Goldstein
MAGNOLIA PARK -- Police arrested a Burbank man after he allegedly
pointed a knife and verbally threatened a motorist who edged the man out
of a parking space at a fast-food restaurant March 8, police said.
Rene Olivarez, 36, was arrested after he allegedly became upset after
a Glendale man pulled into a parking space Olivarez wanted to pull into
at Burger King, Burbank Police Sgt. Bill Taylor said.
Without provoking an altercation, the victim and several witnesses
telephoned police to report that Olivarez, who was driving a gold 1996
Chevrolet truck, brandished a knife and threatened to stab the
40-year-old Glendale man, Taylor said.
Officers arrived at the scene and detained Olivarez and Israel
Chiprez, 25, of Burbank, who was accompanying Olivarez and who police
allege was in possession of the weapon when they got there, Taylor said.
Chiprez was detained but later released, police said.
Olivarez was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and
temporarily housed in the Burbank City Jail. He was released March 10 in
lieu of $50,000 bail, Taylor said.
When drivers find themselves arguing over a space, the best thing to
do is work it out peacefully, Taylor said.
Aside from it being illegal to threaten someone and do so using a
weapon, a parking space is not worth the trouble, Taylor said.
"You never want to put yourself in jeopardy over a parking space," he
said. "At some point, it turns into a crime."
