Alleged Christmas lights road-rage altercation leaves 74-year-old man injured

A 74-year-old man and his grandson were attacked Monday by three teenagers during an alleged road-rage incident, according to family members.

News 12 Staff

Dec 18, 2019, 7:36 PM

Updated 1,761 days ago

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A 74-year-old man and his grandson were attacked Monday by three teenagers during an alleged road-rage incident, according to family members.
The family says John Blanco and his grandson, Joe, were driving slowly as they looked at Christmas decorations in Manorville on the way home from acting practice.
Joe Blanco says another driver then began tailgating and honking his horn on Moriches-Middle Island Road.
“They came up behind us and started to tailgate us and honking like crazy and they got into the lane next to us and started cursing at us and throwing up the middle finger,” says Joe Blanco. “They got in front of us and then he stopped the car and got out, so I got out, so we started to have a confrontation and he came to swing at me and I did the same thing and we basically had a street brawl.”
When John Blanco intervened, his wife says the teen beat him severely. She says he is in Stony Brook Hospital with facial injuries and “bleeding in the brain.”
"He's not himself,” says his wife Eileen Blanco. “He's not really talking."
The family says the three teens were driving a gray Nissan Maxima. Suffolk police have not made any arrests.