Fort Bend County road rage victim awarded more than half a million dollars

SUGAR LAND, Texas (KTRK) -- After she was awarded more than half a million dollars, a Sugar Land woman hopes the civil court decision will send a message to a road rage suspect.

Two weeks ago, Kiana Akhlaghi won her civil court case against Abdullah Olajuwon. If you recognize the name, it's because he's the son of Rockets great, Hakeem Olajuwon.

Akhlaghi said the case was triggered by what happened in April 2022. While driving on the Southwest Freeway in Sugar Land, she said she was almost hit by a vehicle, which sent her into a frenzy.

"I didn't react the best," Akhlaghi recalled. "I got angry. I honked at him, and I flipped him off."

Akhlaghi got off at the Sweetwater exit. While waiting at the light, she said the other driver got out of his vehicle and choked her.

"It was the most dehumanizing situation of my life," Akhlaghi said. "There's something different about someone putting their hands around your neck. It's like they want to control you."

Akhlaghi said she went to the Sugar Land police. About week later she recalled Olajuwon was questioned about the incident.

Her attorney, Steve Shellist, said Olajuwon was charged with misdemeanor assault. However, if you were to go to the police station, or look up criminal court records, you wouldn't find anything.

The district attorney's office told ABC13 it can't confirm or deny the case. Shellist said it's because Olajuwon was a first-time offender and went through a pre-trial program and the records were removed.

"Unfortunately, for this young man I did a public information act request before it was expunged, and I got access to all the criminal records that we were able to use in part in the civil case," Shellist recalled.

When Akhlaghi learned what happened, she couldn't believe it. "I did all the right things that they tell you to do, and I felt like he got away with it," Akhlaghi explained. "He got a slap on the wrist. The criminal justice failed me."

Akhlaghi decided to take Olajuwon to civil court. It was a decision that Shellist said lead to the discovery of another incident.

Smith County court records show Olajuwon was arrested in February of this year and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The district attorney's office told ABC13 it couldn't provide more details because Olajuwon hasn't been indicted.

Shellist said he got the documents, and it shows Olajuwon was involved in another road rage incident, and pointed a BB gun at someone.

That's information Shellist said he used in the Fort Bend County civil case. At the end of May, the jury sided in his client's favor and awarded her $530,000.

"We wanted 12 jurors to say, you can't do this," Shellist explained. "Not in our county, you're going to be held responsible, and that's what 12 jurors did in Fort Bend County. They held him accountable."

Akhlaghi said the civil case wasn't about the money, but sending a message to Olajuwon. She cautions other drivers to act differently than her when you get upset on the roadways.

"You can't give them a reaction," Akhlaghi said. "You just have to keep going with your life because you don't know who's in the other car. You don't know what they're capable of."

ABC13 reached out to Olajuwon's attorney several times by phone and email since Monday. We haven't heard back.

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