Florida Man Flashes Gun at Driver, Unaware It’s an Undercover Trooper

A Florida state trooper turned the tables on a suspected road rage incident when he remained calm and collected during the encounter, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The incident occurred on October 29th, around 4 p.m. on Polk Parkway in the Lakeland area. The off-duty trooper was with his family at the time, as stated in a news release by the highway patrol. Lakeland is approximately 35 miles northeast of Tampa.

According to the highway patrol, the trooper found himself caught in slow-moving traffic when a driver in a red Chevy pickup truck began to show signs of agitation and directed his attention towards the trooper. As traffic cleared, the suspect drove alongside the trooper’s vehicle, continuously accelerating and decelerating, while yelling and using hand gestures. Despite the provocation, the trooper chose to ignore the suspect’s behavior. However, the situation escalated when the suspect slowed down again and brandished a compact firearm, eventually pointing it directly at the trooper.

The unidentified trooper immediately reported the incident to the Florida Highway Patrol, prompting a search for the suspect. Eventually, investigators located the suspect’s vehicle at the residence of 32-year-old Matthew Timothy Reiter in Auburndale, which is approximately 11 miles east of Lakeland. Upon searching the premises, officials discovered five different firearms. Reiter was subsequently arrested and charged with three counts each of unlawful display of a weapon and aggravated assault with a weapon.

In other news from Florida, a bar patron was stabbed multiple times on a dance floor during a dispute over a woman, and a student pilot disabled ten planes after being denied his solo flight. Additionally, a Good Samaritan tragically lost his life in a hit-and-run incident while attempting to assist a teenage driver.