Police seek driver who threatened family

Police are looking for a man in his mid-50s who punched a man and threatened his family with a knife during an altercation in a South Coast Plaza parking lot over the weekend, officials said Monday.

About 8:10 p.m. Saturday, police said, a man was walking with his son, wife and mother in a South Coast Plaza parking structure when a car sped by them dangerously close.

The father shouted at the driver to slow down as the car passed, Sgt. Bryan Glass said. The driver hit the brakes, parked the car on the spot and got out to confront the father, Glass said.

After threatening him, the driver punched the father twice, pulled out a knife and continued to threaten the group, police said. He eventually left and the police were called.

Police said the driver was between 55 and 60 years old but could provide no further description of him or his car.

— Joseph Serna