An 18-year-old man said he purposefully backed his Ford F-150 onto a Toyota Camry on Wednesday afternoon following a road rage incident in order to protect his girlfriend and an 11-month-old who was in the pickup truck, police said.

Driver of Ford F-150 reveresed pickup truck on Toyota Camry

Pickup truck driver said he was in fear for his life and his family

The driver of the Toyota Camry was arrested on 4 charges

According to an arrest affidavit, Adalberto Aponte, 53, said he got into a verbal disturbance that ended when Zach Waring placed his pickup truck into reverse and backed up onto Aponte’s Camry.

Waring told police that Aponte had been driving recklessly since he appeared behind Waring's truck. Waring said Aponte almost caused multiple crashes, and when he reached a red light at the intersection of Southwest 42nd Street and Southwest 27th Avenue, Aponte got out of his Camry, walked directly to Waring's open driver's window and "began to strike him in the face through the window multiple times," police said.

The victim's girlfriend yelled that there was a gun in the truck when Waring was unable to stop Aponte from punching him, a report states. There wasn't a gun in the pickup truck, police said.

According to the report, Aponte said, "I'll show you a real gun."

Waring told police that he feared for his life and his family and "had no other option but to place his vehicle in reverse and hit Aponte's vehicle in an attempt to prevent him from obtaining a firearm and causing further harm to him or his family," a report states.

Police said the red light prevented Waring from driving forward through the intersection in an attempt to leave the argument.

Witnesses to the road rage incident were able to confirm Waring's statements, police said.

Aponte was arrested at the scene and charged with burglary, battery, criminal mischief and driving with suspended license for failing to pay child support in September 2016.



(Ocala Police)