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In a troubling road rage incident in Polk County, Florida, authorities arrested a 64-year-old man after he allegedly brandished a firearm at another vehicle, which contained a 3-year-old child. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported the arrest occurred on Sunday.
The unsettling event unfolded around 11:40 a.m. near Mary Holland Park in Bartow. According to the sheriff’s office, as the victims traveled south on Harden Boulevard near Pipkin Road, Stephen Phillips, a resident of Mulberry, began driving erratically, engaging in dangerous behavior referred to as “brake checking.”
After both vehicles halted side-by-side at a traffic light, Phillips reportedly escalated the encounter by drawing a gun and aiming it at the other car’s occupants. The sheriff’s office noted that the victims, who included a young child, accused Phillips of uttering repeated racial slurs, leaving them in a state of fear for their lives.
As the investigation continues, this incident serves as a stark reminder of the dangers posed by road rage and the importance of maintaining composure behind the wheel.
Both cars came to a stop side-by-side at a traffic light and Phillips pulled out a gun, pointing it toward the victims, deputies said. The sheriff’s office said the victims reported Phillips made “repeated racial slurs” and that they feared for their lives.
Phillips denied pulling a gun but later admitted to pulling it, though he told deputies he did not point it at the victims’ vehicle.
“The victims provided detectives a photo of the encounter, which showed Phillips holding up a .22 caliber Phoenix Arms HP firearm,” the sheriff’s office said in a release.
Phillips was arrested and faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and improper exhibition of a firearm. The sheriff’s office said Phillips is an optician in Lakeland.
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