Had Diego Jose Feliciano been satisfied with merely flipping off a motorist on Florida;a Turnpike Friday morning, it's possible he could still be a free man..

Instead, he allegedly waved a revolver at the driver who, unlucky for him, happened to be a Miami police officer. The Hollywood man wound up on his knees on the highway with his hands behind his head as a Miramar police officer placed him under arrest.

Feliciano, 56, was charged with aggravated assault, according to Miami police.

His excuse, according to police: He said he ``was under a lot of stress because his father died yesterday and was going to be buried tomorrow at 11 a.m.''

According to an arrest affidavit, Feliciano was driving a 2002 Ford pickup north on the turnpike at about 7:40 a.m. when he began to yell and make obscene gestures toward Miami Officer Joseph Amaya, who was driving to a shooting range in Medley.

Amaya, who was in an unmarked unit, said he noticed Feliciano after changing lanes near Northwest 41st Street in order to move into a SunPass lane. ''As I was next to the defendant's vehicle, he put his window down, leaned his torso out of the window [while yelling] and proceeded to show me his left middle finger,'' Amaya wrote in the report.

Amaya said Feliciano then grabbed a revolver and held it up in his right hand so that he could see the gun. Amaya then called 911 and backed off, said Officer Jeff Giordano, a Miami police spokesman.

The Florida Highway Patrol and Miami-Dade County police were notified.

Feliciano was pulled over near Northwest 52nd Avenue in Miramar, where he was arrested by Miramar police.

A loaded Colt .32 was found in his truck.

Feliciano was being held Friday in Broward County's main jail. He was to be transferred to Miami-Dade.

Miami Herald staff writer Jennifer Lebovich contributed to this report.