Believing he had been rear-ended, a Spring Hill man pursued another driver, crashed into his car and threatened his life, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.
Mark Edward Cook, 39, was driving his Chevy Malibu at the intersection of U.S. Highway 92 and Branch Forbes Road Thursday around 2 p.m. when he believed he was rear-ended by Jason Foster, 28, who was driving a pickup.
When Foster drove away from the intersection, Cook raced after him, deputies said. Cook eventually boxed Foster in at the dead end of Shepherd Road and Poultry Farm Lane and bumped into his car.
Cook got out of his car, brandishing a handgun. He walked toward Foster’s car, waving the gun and threatening Foster’s life. Cook pulled open the driver’s door and punched Foster in the face, deputies said.
Foster shut the door and waited with his 5-year-old son Hunter for deputies to arrive. Officers assured Cook that nobody had rear-ended him. But they did arrest him for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and armed burglary of a conveyance.
He also was arrested for child neglect; his 2-year-old daughter Leila watched the entire episode from the back seat of her father’s car. Leila is now under the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families, deputies said.