A submachine pistol-waving Uber Eats driver was arrested in a road rage incident in Deltona, where he threatened another motorist at a McDonald’s with the firearm, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.
Michael Ortiz, 28, was jailed on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful carry of a concealed firearm. On Wednesday, June 18, Volusia County Branch Jail records show he is free on $5,000 bail.
According to investigating deputies, the incident occurred on Monday, June 16, at 9:40 a.m. outside a McDonald’s at 2190 Howland Blvd.
The victim said he had just picked up his order from the McDonald’s drive-thru window and pulled forward. As he tried to make a left turn out of the drive-thru lane, Ortiz, who was in a BMW convertible, also made a left turn and passed the victim on the right side, deputies said.
At the stop sign to exit the McDonald’s parking lot, Ortiz stopped, blocking the victim’s path. The man got into an argument with Ortiz, and that’s when he leaned out of the driver’s side window and pointed what the victim described as a black “Uzi” style of gun at him, deputies said.
When the victim said he was calling 911, Ortiz sped across Howland Boulevard and went to Wendy’s, his arrest report states.
When Ortiz was arrested in a traffic stop, deputies found a Ruger .380 caliber handgun in his pocket. In a backpack that had a magazine sticking out of it, deputies found a MAC 11 submachine pistol with a round chambered and a loaded magazine, the arrest report shows.
Ortiz said he went to the McDonald’s to pick up an Uber Eats order when he got into a confrontation with the victim. He told deputies that when the victim stepped out of his vehicle behind him at the stop sign, he felt threatened but would not provide more details, deputies said.
After the victim said he was calling the police, Ortiz sped across the road to a Wendy’s to pick up another Uber Eats order, deputies said.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Road raging Deltona Uber Eats driver arrested for pointing submachine pistol at motorist
Reporting by Patricio G. Balona, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
