Yakima Police Spokesman On Leave After Road Rage Allegations

The Public Information Officer (PIO) for the Yakima Police Department has been suspended for his role in an alleged road rage incident from this summer.

Mike Bastinelli, Yakima Police PIO and former local talk radio show host, is accused of following and harassing another driver after reportedly seeing them run a stop sign. July 10th, according to the complaint, the incident was caught on camera as the confrontation culminated in the parking lot of the Yakima County Corrections Center where the other driver works at.

Apparently the complaint was recently filed.

Bastinelli is on paid administrative leave, and not allowed to comment on the issue during the investigation. Newstalk KIT-AM in Yakima reports his PIO job has been eliminated effective January 1st 2019 due to budget cutbacks, which is not related to the alleged road rage incident.