S. Tahoe cops arrest man ordered to stop soliciting money for hurricane victims
By Larry Altman, Daily Breeze
A Rolling Hills Estates man ordered recently to stop soliciting donations online for Hurricane Irene victims has been arrested in South Lake Tahoe, police said.
Benjamin Ellis Freedland, 28, was taken into custody Saturday stemming from a case in which he tried to run a man over with his car in Redondo Beach in 2010, police said.
Freedland, a Palos Verdes Peninsula High School graduate, remained in custody Tuesday on $50,000 bail in the El Dorado County jail.
A warrant was issued for Freedland’s arrest in September when he failed to appear in court for a hearing related to an assault with a deadly weapon conviction.
The charge stemmed from a road rage encounter in April 2010 in which Freedland tried to run a man over, Redondo Beach police Sgt. Shawn Freeman said.
That occurred shortly after Freedland prevented the victim from merging into traffic to pass a construction zone. When Freedland pulled up next to him and blocked him, the victim asked, “What’s your problem?”
Freedland threw a bag of sunflower seeds at the victim and followed him home to the 700 block of Knob Hill Avenue, police said.
Freedland then drove at the victim, a mixed martial arts enthusiast who hit Freedland’s car with his nunchakus, a hand weapon used for defense.
