Video shows soap star Pablo Lyle punch driver in road-rage death

A Mexican soap opera star who ran nine steps to punch a 63-year-old man during an alleged road rage attack in Miami did so to protect his family, his lawyers said outside court this week.

Pablo Lyle appeared in Miami-Dade, Fla., circuit court Monday on battery charges stemming from the caught-on-video confrontation on March 31.

Prosecutors said the charges against 32-year-old Lyle — who is the star of the telenovela “Mi Adorable Maldición”  and who has already left the US at least once since the incident — may be upgraded to second-degree murder.

Lyle’s lawyers claimed he was trying to protect his young children.

“This was about a peaceful man protecting his family,” defense attorney Philip Reizenstein said after the hearing. “They were assaulted and attacked without warning or provocation.”

Surveillance footage shows the victim, who was identified as Juan Ricardo Hernandez, get out of his car last week at a stoplight upset about Lyle’s brother-in-law cutting him off in traffic.

The brother-in-law, whose name authorities haven’t released, was then seen getting out of the vehicle to argue with Hernandez. In the video, Hernandez turned around to go back to his own car before Lyle jumped out of the other vehicle.

The actor then ran and punched the motorist, who collapsed to the ground near his car door, according to police. Hernandez died four days later from his injuries, officials said.

A judge set the actor’s bail at $50,000 and ordered him held on house arrest in a Miami-area home.

With Wires