The heir of a famous Bay Area coffee family faces felony charges after allegedly ramming into cars near the Tesla plant in Fremont.
Investigators claim 45-year-old Austin Hills, the great-grandson of the founder of Hills Bros. Coffee company, went on a wild and bizarre road rampage last Thursday
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WATCH HEREHills was driving his Land Rover at about 3:15 a.m. when he started to tailgate a Tesla security guard who was out on his lunch break, according to court documents.
Investigators in court documents said Hills turned off his headlights and attempted to rear end the security guard's Tesla. Investigators said Hill also followed the security guard into the Tesla parking lot, attempting to ram his car.
Investigators said the security guard managed to evade Hills. Then Hills abruptly left the lot and began ramming another occupied car. NBC Bay Area has learned the woman in that car was also a Tesla employee who was also on her lunch break.
When police arrived, they said Hills took off onto Interstate 680, again turned off his lights and started driving erratically, leading officers to end the chase.
Hills was eventually arrested later that morning in Napa. Police said they found a variety of items in his car, including multiple cell phones, laptops, a metal pressure cooker, a gas mask, a drone, extended shell casings, gas cans and alcohol.
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Investigators were still trying to determine a motive for the alleged incident. Court documents show Hills told police the security guard was the one driving erratically and that he had no memory of going to Fremont, ramming any cars or being pursued by police, blaming stress for his lack of memory.
Hills has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and felony evading an officer. Hills pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday. His preliminary hearing was set for later this month.
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SIGN UP Hills has numerous prior convictions, including one for illegal firearms activity in 2019.
