'Irate' Florida man whacks man with leaf blower after fender bender, deputies say

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida man has found himself behind bars after he allegedly whacked a man with a leaf blower after a fender bender, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office. 

Patrick Eittson, 60, was arrested and charged with burglary with battery and criminal mischief after the incident that unfolded on Hibiscus Drive in Leesburg late Saturday morning.

Deputies were called to the scene in reference to a car crash where one of the people involved was struck with a leaf blower by the other, according to an arrest affidavit from the sheriff's office. 

The victim said he was trying to operate his GPS while driving, causing his work truck to hit a trailer attached to a truck, which then forced it to collide with another vehicle, deputies said. That's when Eittson ran out of the house his car was parked in front of, armed with a leaf blower. 

Photo: Lake County Sheriffs Office

Eittson was "irate" and bashed the leaf blower into the hood of the man's truck, deputies said. The victim opened the door to his work truck, but Eittson met him at the driver's side door. The man tried to tell Eittson to "calm down," but he was socked with a leaf blower instead, according to deputies. 

A witness said she saw Eittson climb onto the truck's step while the man was inside and striking him in the face, according to the affidavit. She told Eittson to back away, and he did until law enforcement arrived. 

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Eittson was arrested and told deputies post-Miranda that he "did not strike the victim with the leaf blower but that he did strike the hood of the work truck," the affidavit said. 

He was transported to the Lake County Jail, where he remains held on $26,000 bond.