A road-rage dispute near East Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Clewis Avenue in Tampa escalated into a felony arrest early Saturday morning, after a driver allegedly pointed a rifle at another motorist and then led deputies to an apartment complex where he was taken into custody. Three firearms, including the rifle, were recovered from his vehicle.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
, deputies responded at 1:52 a.m. Saturday to an apartment complex in the 4000 block of Sabal Park Drive regarding a road-rage incident involving an aggravated assault with a firearm. The agency said deputies learned the altercation had actually occurred roughly ten minutes earlier, near East Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Clewis Avenue.
HCSO identified the suspect as 23-year-old Phillip Garrett II, who deputies say pointed a rifle at the victim during the confrontation. Deputies tracked down the suspect vehicle as Garrett was getting out of it at the Sabal Park Drive apartment complex and arrested him on the spot, the sheriff's office said.
Three Guns Pulled From the Vehicle
Deputies recovered three firearms from Garrett's vehicle during the arrest, according to the same HCSO account, and those recovered weapons included the rifle allegedly used in the road-rage confrontation. Garrett was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon or firearm, the sheriff's office said.
A listing on Mugshots.Zone identifies the arrested man as Garrett Phillip Charles II, a name order that differs from the Phillip Garrett II identification given in the sheriff's office account. The discrepancy between the two names has not been resolved in the available records.
What Florida Law Says About the Charges
Under Florida Statutes § 784.021, aggravated assault is defined as an assault committed with a deadly weapon but without intent to kill, or an assault carried out with intent to commit a felony, and it is classified as a third-degree felony. The separate improper exhibition charge falls under Florida Statutes § 790.10, which covers exhibiting a firearm in another person's presence in a rude, careless, angry, or threatening manner when not done in necessary self-defense, a first-degree misdemeanor.
No court filings, plea entries, or case outcomes were available at the time of the sheriff's office statement, and the identity of the victim and whether anyone was injured have not been disclosed. The sheriff's office has not released additional details beyond the initial account of the arrest and recovered firearms.
