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Police: Man yelled racial slurs in Kidder road rage case

A White Haven man was jailed Saturday after what Kidder Township police described as a road rage incident.

Just before 11 a.m., officers were dispatched to the area of Jack Frost Mountain Road and Route 940 when victims reported they were being tailgated by a white Honda.

A woman told police the Honda approached her vehicle from the rear with “tremendous speed,” stopping short of colliding with her vehicle.

The driver of the Honda, later identified as Phillip A. Burchman, 51, attempted to overtake her vehicle on a double solid line multiple times and, according to the victim, made several attempts to run her off the road by cutting her off.

The victim pulled over in an attempt to let the vehicle pass her, however, the car pulled up next to her and Burchman started to yell racial slurs toward her. He then threw a coffee on her windshield and she was unable to see.

Burchman parked the Honda further up the road and waited for the woman to approach, police said, before pulling out directly in front of her vehicle, almost causing a head-on collision. Once again, Burchman allegedly yelled racial slurs toward the woman.

The responding officer stopped the suspect’s vehicle on Jack Frost Mountain Road.

Burchman is charged with four counts each of recklessly endangering another person, harassment, ethnic intimidation and disorderly conduct; and three counts each of reckless driving, driving at an unsafe speed and other traffic citations.

He was arraigned by District Judge William Kissner, of Palmerton, and bail was set in the amount of $30,000 cash. Burchman was unable to post the bail and was committed to the Carbon County prison.

Burchman