Crime & Safety

Road Rage Victim Identified as Fremont Man

Livermore man to be arraigned Friday on a murder charge.

A man who died after being stabbed during a road rage incident Wednesday has been identified as Ricky Ziesmer of Fremont, said M. Brooks, a deputy in the Alameda County Coroner's Bureau.

Police said Ziesmer, 48, was in a traffic-related dispute with Livermore resident Cort Holbrook, who later in the day was arrested on a murder charge and booked at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.

He is scheduled to be arraigned at 11 a.m. Friday in Department 701 of the Gale-Schenone Hall of Justice in Pleasanton.

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Both men pulled their vehicles into a parking lot on Old First Street downtown near the and .

Ziesmer ended up with a stab wound in the left side of his upper torso, officials said. He then got back into a 2002 gold Chevrolet Cavalier he was driving and headed to the south entrance of the on East Stanley Boulevard in Livermore.

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The health center does not offer emergency services, which are based at ValleyCare's Pleasanton facility.

A staff member then called police to report a victim of a stabbing at about 1:40 p.m.

Ziesmer was transferred to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he died at 5:47 p.m.

Two small terrier-type dogs left in the vehicle he was driving were taken by police. Also, Ziesmer's clothing and other belongings were seen scattered on the floor near the health center's south entrance during a police investigation.

Meanwhile, Holbrook was seen by witnesses with a bloody face and entering a 2003 grey Chevy Silverado pickup after the incident downtown.

He called police to report the road rage incident, Sgt. Brian Martinez said.

Holbrook was found with an abrasion on his face and refused medical attention when emergency crews arrived on scene. He was taken to the for questioning during the initial investigation.

A knife police believe was used in the stabbing was found at the scene on Old First Street, Detective Tony Esquivel said.

The incident marks the city's second homicide this year and does not appear to be gang-related, police said. Detectives continue to investigate the city's first homicide of 2011, a reported in January.

Court records show Holbrook is a software engineer. He is being held with no bail.

Anyone involved in a road rage incident is asked to drive to the nearest police station or call 9-1-1 from a cell phone.

"You never know who that other person in that vehicle can be," Martinez said.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to call Livermore police at 925-371-4987.


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