How a Rocklin road rage incident led to voluntary manslaughter conviction in court

Blake Anthony Rakela and his father Anthony David Rakela were in Placer County Jail 14 months ago. Both men had been indicted by a criminal grand jury; the adult son was charged with murder, and his father faced felony assault charges for their roles in a deadly road rage confrontation in Rocklin.

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On Aug. 4, the Rakelas will return to Placer Superior Court to be sentenced after agreeing to plea deals with prosecutors.

Blake Rakela, 21, will be sentenced to four years in prison for using a metal wrench in the March 2025 road rage clash that killed 55-year-old Jeremy Styles. Anthony Rakela, 61, will be sentenced to 90 days of probation on a misdemeanor assault charge for his involvement in the confrontation.

This is how this homicide case unfolded after the younger Rakela and Styles encountered each other one night on a Rocklin road.

Styles died at the scene after the confrontation, which was reported about 8:45 p.m. March 15, 2025, at the intersection of Whitney Ranch Parkway and Whitney Oaks Drive in a residential neighborhood southwest of McCormick Park.

No criminal charges after first arrest

The Rakelas, both of Rocklin, were initially arrested shortly after the violent confrontation on suspicion of homicide and criminal conspiracy in Styles’ death, the Rocklin Police Department announced at the time in a news release.

The arrested father and son remained in custody until their March 18, 2025, arraignment hearing. The judge ordered them released after prosecutors informed the court they would not be filing charges against the Rakelas at that time.

After the arraignment, the Placer County District Attorney’s Office said in a written statement that “additional time is needed to ensure that the charges brought, if any, are supported by the facts and the law.”

Prosecutors said their initial review of the gathered evidence included witness statements, audio recordings and video, and additional time was needed to “shed light on the physical confrontation” that led to Style’s death. They also said their investigation would continue until all available evidence was collected and submitted to the District Attorney’s Office.

After prosecutors presented evidenced in a closed-door hearing, a criminal grand jury indicted the Rakelas in Styles’ death. The son was charged with murder, and his father faced two felony charges: assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon with force likely to cause great bodily injury.

On May 15, 2025, authorities arrested the Rakelas a second time. Anthony Rakela was released from jail after posting a $50,000 bail bond. His son was not released, and whether he should be eligible for bail would be issued argued by the attorneys for more than a year.

Metal wrench used as a weapon

Deputy District Attorney David Tellman argued in court last year that Styles lost his life over a dispute when the two vehicles driven by Blake Rakela and Styles merged that night.

The prosecutor said Blake Rakela “chased” and “goaded” Styles for several miles and called his father for help. Tellman told the judge that the defendant, wielding “a very large wrench,” took multiple swings at Styles before taking “a baseball-style swing to the head.”

Anthony Rakela, who was waiting at the intersection after his son called him, tackled Styles and disarmed him when his son swung the metal wrench at Styles, the prosecutor said. He said the confrontation then became “a two-on-one fight.”

Linda Parisi, Rakela’s defense attorney, argued that Styles got out of his vehicle with a tire iron and used it to hit her client’s vehicle, threatening to injure him. Parisi told the judge the violent clash happened after Styles got out of his vehicle first, introducing “not only physical confrontation, but physical threats.”

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The defense attorney argued that Styles had tried to run her client’s vehicle off the road, and the younger Rakela followed Styles’ vehicle to get his license plate number. Parisi also said her client and his father called 911 and remained at the scene, taking turns performing CPR on Styles until authorities arrived.

Anthony Rakela, who was waiting at the intersection after his son called him, tackled Styles and disarmed him when his son swung the metal wrench at Styles, according to the prosecutor.

California appeals court

In subsequent bail review hearings over the past year, Parisi asked the court to set bail and allow her client to be released while the homicide case proceeds. She argued that Blake Rakela acted in self-defense and was protecting his girlfriend and his father, who were both present with him when Styles allegedly threatened them. Parisi said the facts of the confrontation showed “no evidence of malice.”

At those hearings, the court ruled that Blake Rakela would pose a threat to the public if he were to be released from jail.

Parisi filed two petitions with the California Third Appellate District Court, asking the state appellate court to overturn the Placer Superior Court rulings denying her client the chance to post bail. Her first petition was unsuccessful, but the second petition resulted in a letter from the appellate court last month.

Additional details about road rage clash

In the filed June 22 letter, appellate court said it appeared that the Superior Court “did not sufficiently articulate its reasons” for deciding that bail conditions, such as GPS monitoring, home detention, driving restrictions and third-party guardianship, could reasonably address the court’s public safety concerns.

In the defense petition, Parisi argued that Styles had a history of road rage incidents before the confrontation with the Rakelas, according to the appellate court letter. The defense attorney argued that Styles, who was under the influence of cocaine and alcohol at the time, escalated the incident when he hit Rakela’s vehicle with a tire iron and ended with Rakela hitting Styles on his head with a box wrench.

The appellate court said it was aware that evidence showed Blake Rakela enlisted his father’s help in the confrontation, and the then 20-year-old man continued to pursue Styles “when the victim began to back pedal” and “was down.”

However, the appellate considered Rakela’s age and lack of previous criminal history. The appellate court said it was considering issuing a ruling on the matter, but informed the Superior Court that it could avoid the issue by vacating its previous ruling and scheduled another bail review hearing that addressed the appellate court’s concerns.

Plea deal reached in homicide case

On June 24, the Superior Court vacated its previous ruling and scheduled a new bail review hearing for Rakela on June 29. But that bail review never happened. Rakela did appear in court that afternoon, but the prosecution and the defense informed the judge they were working on a plea deal that would make the bail review hearing unnecessary.

Blake Rakela, who has been in jail custody for the past 14 months, pleaded no contest to the lesser homicide charge of voluntary manslaughter for Styles’ death. He also admitted to the enhancement for using a deadly weapon — the wrench — in the crime.

His father pleaded no contest to assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury; the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor. Prosecutors will formally drop the other felony charge against him at his sentencing.

At the July 6 hearing, the prosecutor told the judge he has had “abundant and robust” conversations with Syles’ family, including his widow Carla Combe, about the plea agreement with the Rakelas.

Tellman said the victim’s family was in agreement with the plea deal. The prosecutor said the resolution in the homicide case “does justice by holding the defendant accountable.”

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