A Texas county judge threatened to have a pair of Amazon workers fired while his son is accused of spitting at the duo during a heated road rage confrontation.
Parker County Judge Pat Deen (R) was backing out of his driveway in Hudson Oaks, Texas, outside of Fort Worth, when an Amazon van drove past and the two vehicles nearly collided, according to CBS Texas on Thursday.
The delivery vehicle, driven by JNae King and LaTierca Thrower, continued driving to their drop-off location.
Thrower, who was working her first shift for the company, accused Deen of getting out of his truck and confronting them during the November incident.
“You stopped right when I was backing out. Are you an idiot?” Deen said in the video obtained by the outlet.
Deen accused the women of “almost causing a wreck.”
“He was just screaming, ‘I’m gonna get you all fired, I’m gonna get you all fired. Y’all need to pay attention,’” Thrower recalled.
The rookie delivery driver, who quit because of the incident, says she denied almost causing an accident and told the screaming lawmaker to calm down.
As the two continued arguing, Deen’s son, Gary Patrick Deen Jr., jumped in and allegedly used racial slurs directed at the women.
The women warned the two men to back away and claimed spit was coming out of the judge’s mouth as he talked.
“Most of the confrontation was coming from his son and not [Deen]” King said. “From my perspective as far as the judge, I don’t believe he spit intentionally; it was more so being irate.”
Hudson Oaks Police have found video evidence of the younger Deen spitting at the women, but could not find any use of racial slurs, the outlet reported.
Deen denied ever spitting at the Amazon workers during the roadside confrontation.
The judge defended his explosive reaction and claimed the delivery drivers had parked behind him and caused damage to his car, which sparked his confrontational tone in the video.
“At the time, whether a public official or not, I think that when there’s a possibility that there is personal damage, property damage, I think at that point that I think anybody’s gonna be frustrated with the attitude that was there,” he said.
“I take responsibility for some of the arguing back and forth and I should’ve just walked away,” Deen added.
The women filed assault charges against the judge’s son.
Deen has served as the Parker County judge since September 2018, following the resignation of his predecessor, Mark Riley.
He is seeking a third four-year term in 2026 and is facing off against former police officer and retired municipaljudge Tim Galbreaith in the Republican party primary on March 3.
The winner of the primary will face off against Democrat Richard Simms – who is running unopposed – in the November general election.
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