Tools and pottery were weapons as neighbors fought over bad driving, Florida cops say

A dispute over bad driving ended with one man using a cutting tool and ceramic pottery to attack a neighbor, according to investigators in Florida.

The confrontation occurred Tuesday, Dec. 3, and began when one man objected to a neighbor driving the wrong way in a North Fort Myers mobile home park, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Investigators said the resulting fight was between the man who complained and a bystander, 61-year-old Rolando Ruiz Alonso, who was identified as “the primary aggressor.”

The driver actually sat the whole thing out, deputies said.

“The suspect and victim began exchanging words about how the vehicle was driving, where it turned physical in the roadway,” the sheriff’s office said.

“Ruiz Alonso began swinging a saw-like tool toward the victim as the argument intensified, eventually striking the victim. Ruiz Alonso additionally used a piece of ceramic pottery as a weapon.”

The victim suffered “non-life threatening” injuries in the attack, deputies said. His identity was not released.

Ruiz Alonso, 61, was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators say he “lives on the street and was outside his home” when he heard the victim complain about the driver going the wrong way.

North Fort Myers is about a 125-mile drive south from Tampa.

This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 7:16 AM with the headline "Tools and pottery were weapons as neighbors fought over bad driving, Florida cops say."