68-year-old makes woman crash car, threatens her with chainsaw, Michigan cops say

A 68-year-old man is accused of running a woman off the road and threatening her with a chainsaw in a road rage attack, Michigan authorities say.

Leonard Yonkman is facing felony charges, including assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and misdemeanor malicious destruction of personal property, according to court records filed Oct. 7 in Van Buren County.

McClatchy News reached out to an attorney representing Yonkman, but didn’t immediately receive a response.

The Oct. 5 incident in Waverly Township began with the victim pulling out of a driveway in front of Yonkman, “which made him go into a rage,” the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Yonkman, who was driving a truck with a trailer attached, passed the woman, “almost running (her) off the road,” and causing her to crash, the sheriff’s office said.

The woman followed Yonkman and confronted him at an intersection, WWMT reported.

According to deputies, Yonkman grabbed a chainsaw from the bed of his truck, but it wouldn’t start, “so he physically assaulted the female victim.”

He knocked the woman’s cellphone out of her hand and stomped on it, then hit her in the stomach and grabbed her throat, investigators said, WMMT reported. A witness at a nearby gas station began yelling at Yonkman, telling him to stop, and also took a picture of his license plate, according to officials.

He left the scene, but deputies found and arrested him, the sheriff’s office said.

Waverly Township is a roughly 60-mile drive southwest from Grand Rapids.

This story was originally published October 14, 2025 at 12:16 PM with the headline "68-year-old makes woman crash car, threatens her with chainsaw, Michigan cops say."