Christine Marie Sweet was jailed September 17 after Lee County sheriff’s deputies accused her of throwing a glass jar of vegan mayonnaise through another driver’s open window during an August 20 confrontation near Corkscrew Road and Three Oaks Parkway in Estero. The account comes from the probable-cause statement described by WINK News.
According to the report, the victim said a white Chevrolet work van cut in front of her vehicle, prompting her to honk; the van’s driver yelled profanities and made an obscene gesture before the drivers stopped alongside one another with their windows down. Investigators allege that Sweet threw the jar at the other driver’s face. The victim later reported a cut below her eye, a possible injury inside her lip, blurry vision and a headache, and told deputies she wanted to pursue charges.
What the charges allege
Sweet faces aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and throwing a missile into an occupied vehicle. Florida’s missile statute is cited in the charge. The charging theory treats a glass jar as capable of causing serious injury; whether prosecutors can prove every element remains for the court to determine.
The probable-cause account says detectives located the van at San Carlos Plaza on September 17 and later obtained a search warrant. Investigators recovered four cameras and two cellphones, and the report says Sweet told them she threw the jar. Those details are allegations in an arrest-related record, not findings of guilt. The case’s eventual evidence, court rulings and outcome remain unresolved.
The intersection’s broader safety record
The alleged confrontation occurred at an intersection with a documented crash history, although that history does not establish a connection to the attack. WBBH News reported that a traffic study counted 179 crashes at Corkscrew Road and Three Oaks Parkway over five years, the highest total among the Estero intersections examined.
The corridor is also the subject of possible infrastructure changes: Gulfshore Business reported that Lee County was conducting a feasibility study to widen Corkscrew Road from U.S. 41 to Ben Hill Griffin Parkway, including the Three Oaks Parkway intersection. Separately, preliminary 2024 figures from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles attributed nearly 300 deaths and more than 2,200 serious injuries statewide to distracted drivers. Those figures describe distracted driving statewide. The intersection crash count and the statewide distracted-driving figures are separate measures.
