Man threatens ‘Forrest Gump’ actor with gun

Police arrested the man who made Williamson fear for his life

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updated 2:51 p.m. ET May 4, 2005

GARDENA, Calif. - Police arrested a man who allegedly threatened “Forrest Gump” star Mykelti Williamson with a gun while both were driving on city streets.

The man followed Williamson, yelling racial slurs and pointing a gun at the actor before running him off the road and approaching his vehicle on foot Tuesday, Williamson said.

“I could see the rage in his eyes. He was out of control, completely out of control,” Williamson told KCAL-TV.

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But the man didn’t shoot, and eventually backed off and drove away.

“That man could’ve very well killed me. That was a huge gun,” the 45-year-old actor, who lives in Los Angeles, told KNBC-TV. “He felt in complete control of the situation and that’s probably why he didn’t fire.”

Williamson got the license plate number of the man’s sport utility vehicle and called police, who tracked down the suspect and arrested him.

The suspect, 24-year-old Ernesto Diaz of Los Angeles, was arrested and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and of hate crimes, police Sgt. Mike Bartlebaugh said.

Diaz was being held on $50,000 bail and was expected to appear in Superior Court Thursday, Bartlebaugh said.

Gardena is located about 15 miles south-southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Williamson, best known for playing Tom Hanks’ buddy, Bubba, in 1994’s “Forrest Gump,” appeared last year in “After the Sunset” and “The Assassination of Richard Nixon.” He played a Los Angeles police detective in the 2002-03 NBC series “Boomtown.”