Road rage fueled by racial hatred, victim says

Police in Concord have charged a Kannapolis man with impersonating a police officer after they say he flashed a badge during a road rage incident at Concord Mills Monday night.

James Galyan, 49, told officers Monday night that he was a retired officer, but they charged him late Thursday after they determined that wasn’t true.

The incident Monday night started when Fed Ex truck driver Shamel Tunnell said he honked at a pickup truck that had run a stop sign at the mall.

Moments later, Tunnell told Eyewitness News he saw lights behind him.

“All I see is flashing lights, strobe lights,” Tunnell said.

Police in Concord have charged a Kannapolis man with impersonating a police officer after they say he flashed a badge during a road-rage incident at Concord Mills on Monday night.

James Galyan, 49, told police Monday night that he was a retired officer, but they charged him late Thursday after they determined that wasn’t true.

The incident Monday night started when Fed Ex truck driver Shamel Tunnell said he honked at a pickup truck that had run a stop sign at the mall.

Moments later, Tunnell told Eyewitness News, he saw lights behind him.

“All I see is flashing lights, strobe lights,” Tunnell said.

He thought it was an undercover officer so he pulled over and two men in two separate cars approached him, one of them claiming to be an officer.

“He's flashing a badge and he's yelling out racial slurs and cursing, and I say to myself, ‘This not an officer,’” Tunnell said.

But then the situation escalated, he said.

“Then he pulled out one of those billy (clubs) with the knuckles on the end and he swings at me, and he says he's going to kill me,” Tunnell said.

Concord police said they are continuing to investigate the incident, but Tunnell and his wife said they are shaken.

“It's scary. I'm still scared,” Tunnell said

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