BAY RIDGE, Brooklyn (AP, PIX11) — The son of the alleged U-Haul driver involved in a “rampage through Brooklyn” on Monday identified his father as the man arrested by the NYPD.
Police didn’t immediately release his name, but his son identified him as Weng Sor, and told The Associated Press he had a history of mental illness.
“Very frequently he’ll choose to skip out on his medications and do something like this,” said Stephen Sor, 30, in an interview outside his Brooklyn home. “This isn’t the first time he’s been arrested. It’s not the first time he’s gone to jail.”
Weng Sor allegedly drove through Brooklyn, hitting and injuring at least eight people before police took him into custody. A 44-year-old man who was hit near Bay Ridge Parkway and Fifth Avenue died from his injuries, police officials said Monday evening. The U-Haul used was legitimately rented outside of New York, sources said.
Court records show Weng Sor was sentenced to one to three years in a Nevada prison for stabbing his brother in Las Vegas in 2015. Sources confirmed to PIX11 News the man taken into custody has a criminal record outside of New York.
Stephen Sor said his father had been living in Las Vegas for the past few years. He said he didn’t speak to his father often, and was completely caught off guard when he showed up in Brooklyn in the middle of the night about a week ago.
He described his relationship with his father as “rocky,” and said his father had a history of mental illness, as well as not taking medications and acting out.
“I try to just distance, as long as he leaves us alone,” Sor said
Weng Sor’s criminal records date back nearly two decades.
In 2015, he stabbed his brother in Las Vegas and served about 17 months in a Nevada prison, according to court and prison records. In 2020, he stabbed someone in the arm and chest with a knife and was sentenced to 364 days in county jail, with about 10 months of time already served.
Before pleading guilty in that case, Sor underwent several months of evaluations at state psychiatric facilities until he was found competent to face charges, court records show. The records don’t list a possible diagnosis, but note that Sor was placed on medications.
In an earlier Nevada case, Sor was ordered to undergo counseling and perform community service after pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery in 2005. The judge noted that he was soon moving to New York and ordered him to submit to a mental health evaluation once there.
