Armed road rage incident lands Lakeland optician behind bars

LAKELAND, Fla. - A Lakeland optician is accused of pulling a gun on another vehicle that had a 3-year-old child inside during a road rage incident on Sunday, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

The backstory:

Detectives arrived at Mary Holland Park, located at 2015 Shumate Drive, Bartow, shortly before 11:40 a.m. on Sunday, in response to a reported road rage incident.

According to PCSO,  the victims, which included a 3-year-old child, were traveling southbound on Harden Boulevard near Pipkin Road when they encountered Stephen Phillips driving a Hyundai Santa Fe.  The victims told detectives that Phillips was driving erratically and performed a "brake check" on their vehicle.

After passing Phillips’ vehicle, deputies say both cars came to a stop side by side at a traffic light. That’s when, according to PCSO, Phillips pulled out a silver semi-automatic firearm and pointed it towards the victims with his finger resting on the trigger.

READ: Grady Judd: Suspect accused of brutally stabbing retired nurse to death in Davenport arrested

According to the victims, they feared for their lives because Phillips made repeated racial slurs.

Initially, deputies said Phillips denied showing the gun, but later admitted to pulling it, claiming that he did not believe he pointed it at the victims.

However, the victims gave detectives a photo of the encounter, which showed Phillips holding up a .22 caliber Phoenix Arms HP firearm.

What they're saying:

"Brandishing a firearm at innocent people—especially a child—is unacceptable," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd explained. "Road rage that escalates into violence will not be tolerated, and my detectives acted quickly to put this man behind bars."

"You can see this clearly with or without glasses," Judd added. "This optician should have known this was going to be crystal clear to us."

Phillips was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and improper exhibition of a firearm.

What's next:

Judd is holding a press conference on Tuesday at 10 a.m. to share more information about the incident and an arrest made in a separate stabbing death of a retired nurse.