Ocala woman arrested after alleged road rage incident

OCALA, Fla. - Deputies say a Marion County mother showed quick thinking during an alleged road rage incident.

Investigators said the victim took photographs of 22-year-old Sarah Rivera getting out of her car and allegedly threatening her. Marion County deputies say Rivera and the victim both passed a slower driver but then Rivera got angry that the victim still wasn't getting out of her way.

"Ms. Rivera, the defendant, she got angry I guess that this person changed lanes same time as her, as they get around the slow vehicle, she pulled in front of the victim, and began slamming on brakes, driving -- it's a four-lane highway -- driving between lanes, blocking her from going around, eventually they come to a stoplight," said Sgt. Paul Bloom, with the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

As this all happened, Bloom says Rivera was also throwing things out her window at the victim's car.

Rivera is facing three charges in the Ocala road rage incident -- one of them is a felony.

"She caused damage to the victim's vehicle," he said, "and when they reached the stoplight, Ms. Rivera exited her vehicle, walks over to the victim, makes a threat, and keep in mind the victim is driving on the road with a small child in the car with her as well."

Deputies say in the case of this Marion County mother, some quick thinking made their job much easier.

"The cell phone has become a very valuable tool to protect you and put people in jail that are out there doing what they shouldn't do."

That is information law enforcement says is critical to getting bad drivers off the road.

"We get a tag number, we're able to send that the troopers and other agencies when we're able to pull that vehicle over, we find the weapon in the car, and that person is arrested," said Lt. Kim Montes, with the Florida Highway Patrol.

They say even if you can't grab the plate number, and photos or a good description can help.

"These things do escalate because somebody is strictly going on emotion and we have an outcome where someone really gets hurt," Montes said.

The highway patrol says, if possible, never engage some being aggressive on the roads.

"Really the best thing to do is try and ignore that behavior," Montes advised. "I know it's easier said than done because we're all human, but move to a different lane, let that person pass, you don't know what kind of day that person has had and how angry or raging they are."

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