Assault and Police Action

Question

Cletus asked: My girlfriend and I were riding single file on a two lane city street, far right, and not impeding traffic when a guy in a pick up truck came up from behind honking his horn so we moved over as much as possible. When he passed us he swerved towards us trying to hit us with his truck and actually driving off the side of the road into the grass. I yelled at the idiot and he pulled off the road and made us pass his drivers side …when we passed he was yelling at us and said he had a gun and motioned like he was getting it out of his center console. I reported the incident to police but they wouldn’t do anything about it even with two witnesses and a tag number. Why can’t police do anything about something like this? I consider a vehicle a deadly weapon and also the implied gun threat.

Answer

They can. What you describe is assault and is a crime, not a traffic violation. Law enforcement officers do not have to witness a criminal act to conduct a full investigation. See this post:

http://flbikelaw.org/2010/05/response-to-harassment-request-for-law-enforcement-assistance/

However, without complete information to go on, it is difficult and they may have the stated policy.  Anyone involved in any incident should collect as much evidence as possible to facilitate an investigation.

3 Comments on “Assault and Police Action

  1. I assume you copied his plate number so he can be identified. While concealed weapons permits are easy to obtain, the weapon can be exposed only under limited circumstances. I know of a situation where someone pulled out a gun because his car was scratched in a parking lot and he was arrested.

    • Yes…I had all his info ; tag number , vehicle make and color. He didn’t show the gun , only said he had it and motioned like he was getting it out.

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