Man Arrested for Pulling Airsoft Gun After Car Crash
Gainesville Police Department officers arrested Andrew Manuel Cabeza, 38, Thursday afternoon and charged him with aggravated assault.
According to the arrest report, Cabeza and the victim were involved in a vehicle crash. Cabeza's brother was in the passenger of his vehicle.
Instead of taking out his car insurance, Cabeza exited the vehicle and allegedly pulled a gun on the victim before stating, “I will shoot you mother fucker.”
The arrest report states the victim fled to a nearby construction site but was followed by Cabeza.
Cabeza reportedly pointed his gun at several construction workers while threatening to shoot them.
Cabeza’s brother pulled him away from the construction site.
A search of Cabeza revealed he did not have a real firearm but an airsoft pistol that could be mistaken for a real gun.
Cabeza’s vehicle had a dash camera that caught footage of the crash.
GPD Officer Miguel Perez reported, “On the dash cam you can see an accident occur. Nearly immediately afterwards you can hear [Cabeza] outside of the vehicle screaming at the victim, “I will shoot you mother fucker.”
After being read his Miranda rights, Cabeza reportedly admitted to threatening to shoot the victim while pointing his airsoft gun. Cabeza said he did it because he believed the victim was fleeing the scene and would run over his brother.
Perez reported that the victim didn’t leave the scene until Cabeza pulled the gun.
According to the arrest report, “Approximately one week ago [Cabeza] made contact with [police] for a similar incident. In this incident [Cabeza] believed that someone was driving too aggressively and pulled the same gun on his person while driving in traffic. [Cabeza] was warned by [officers] during that incident that he could very well go to jail, but the subject in that incident did not want to [press charges]. [Officers] talked to [Cabeza] extensively, cautioning him of his behavior due to the fact that someone could have a real gun and could harm him as well as the possible legal ramifications of his actions.”
Cabeza has no bond pending a pretrial detention motion by the State Attorney’s Office.
