TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida man is accused of shooting at a deputy in what the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is calling a case of road rage.
Tracy Alan Swint, 49, of Riverview, was arrested Wednesday and charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, shooting into an occupied vehicle and open carrying of a weapon, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.
The incident happened in the Tampa suburb of Riverview at about 6:03 p.m. EST, WTVT reported. Deputy Daniel Henry, 33, was headed home after a day of training when he got behind a dark green 2007 Saturn driving below the speed limit, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Henry said the Saturn began “brake checking” the deputy aggressively on the dark, two-lane road. When Henry attempted to pass the vehicle, Swint allegedly rolled his window down and fired a gunshot at the deputy, WTSP-TV reported. The bullet hit just behind the passenger side door and the wheel, the sheriff’s office said.
The deputy, who has been with the sheriff’s office since October 2016, was not injured. He pulled over to the side of the road and called in a description of the vehicle, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies stopped Swint about 10 minutes later and he allegedly confessed to the shooting, saying it was a case of road rage, WTSP reported. Swint also denied knowing that the vehicle was a marked sheriff’s office SUV.
“I’m angry that any driver would inflict violence on another human being in our community because his emotions got the best of him,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said during a news conference. “I’m disappointed that any member of our Tampa Bay community would shoot at a law enforcement officer.”
Swint remains in jail, with bail set at $22,750, online records show.
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