- April 24, 2024
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Palm Coast resident Derek Wilson was charged with assault after a road rage incident on July 8.
“Here’s another example of how road rage can turn potentially deadly,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. “No traffic or roadway altercations are worth your life, and here is a guy who felt the need to pull a gun instead of moving out of traffic. Fortunately, no one was injured, and we were called to intervene. Hopefully, this violent offender will finally learn his lesson.”
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call at the Brass Tap in Palm Coast about an armed disturbance. The responding deputy was informed that the suspect fled from the scene in a white Ford F-150 after a road rage incident became potentially dangerous.
The suspect was later identified as Wilson.
The victim had been working as a delivery driver and was stopped in traffic near Brass Tap when he came into contact with Wilson, who was parked in the middle of the road, blocking traffic.
The victim and Wilson began to argue over the traffic issue, and Wilson got a firearm from inside the vehicle and pointed it at the victim while verbally threatening to harm him. While the victim was reporting the incident to the FCSO Communications Center, Wilson fled the scene.
An FCSO Public Service Officer assigned to the nearby district office saw the truck stopped at the intersection of Old Kings Road and Kings Way and notified the Communications Center.
Deputies confirmed the vehicle and driver matched the victim’s description. FCSO deputies were able to maneuver patrol vehicles behind the suspect’s vehicle and conduct a felony traffic stop in the parking lot of the Brass Tap.
The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was identified as Wilson, who was secured and placed in a deputy’s patrol vehicle for officer safety.
During a search of the vehicle, deputies located what appeared to be a gun in a magazine in plain view on the floorboard of the front seat between the driver and passenger seat.
Upon further investigation, a loaded firearm was located in a compartment under the steering wheel.
This is not Wilson’s first encounter with law enforcement. He has a criminal history dating back to 1988. He’s previously been charged for homicide, burglary, trespassing, and invasion of privacy, all out-of-state.
Wilson was arrested and transported to the Flagler County Inmate Detention Facility without incident.
He’s being charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon Without Intent to Kill and being held on a $15,000 bond.
