Sonoma Security Guard Charged With Assaulting Wheelchair-Bound NASCAR Fan During Cup Series Race

Disgusting.

NASCAR was in Sonoma, California this past weekend for their annual race at the Sonoma Raceway road course. But unfortunately, the race was overshadowed for one fan by an out of control security guard.

The fan involved was actually a racer himself, sprint car driver Chase Johnson, who was paralyzed last year in a crash at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California and now uses a wheelchair.

According to a since-deleted post from Johnson’s Facebook page, Chase and his wife were leaving the track from pit road after the race to get back to the handicap parking lot. But despite showing their credentials, the security guard refused to let them through, even as others with the same credentials were allowed to pass. The Johnsons asked for a supervisor, while the guard reportedly told them that another “crippled” also had to turn around and go another way.

The security guard then allegedly pushed Johnson backwards, hard enough to cause his wheelchair to flip. The shove caused Johnson to hit his head on the ground, briefly knocking him unconscious before the NASCAR medical team stepped in and took him to the medical center

Johnson was eventually taken to the hospital, where he remained overnight and doctors found a crack on his vertebra and spinal swelling. The post notes that doctors were unable to determine whether it was due to the assault or from his racing accident.

He was eventually sent home with a neck brace and a damaged wheelchair, while the security guard was taken to jail.

According to the Press Democrat, 27-year old Alexander Rosiles was charged with assault and battery and is being held on a $35,000 bond. Prosecutors also allege that the new charges violate the terms of probation from a previous assault conviction from March 2019, which obviously raises the question of why a security guard with an assault conviction was hired in the first place.

Chase and his wife haven’t addressed the incident since their initial post, but witnesses who were there at the time have also confirmed their version of the events that transpired on pit road.

Neither NASCAR nor Sonoma Raceway have addressed the incident, and it’s not clear who was responsible for hiring the security guard, though I would assume he was a third party employee contracted by NASCAR or the speedway.

It obviously unfortunate that an incident like this overshadowed what was otherwise a successful weekend at the road course, one that saw Shane Van Gisbergen win his second consecutive race and third road course race of the season. But to have a security guard treat ANY fan like that, much less one in a wheelchair with the proper credentials, is absolutely disgusting.

Hopefully he’s held accountable – and obviously he shouldn’t be a security guard in the future, at NASCAR races or anywhere else for that matter.The post Sonoma Security Guard Charged With Assaulting Wheelchair-Bound NASCAR Fan During Cup Series Race first appeared on Whiskey Riff.