Comment #3

justxploring — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:56:27 GMT

I hope they let him attend his father's funeral. Yes, it was a very stupid thing to do. Yes, he should be punished. I would be very frightened if someone waved a gun at me on the highway. I was only thinking of his family, which I guess he should have when he committed that stupid and careless act.

Comment #2

konane — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:26:29 GMT

Another one off the street, at least temporarily.

Comment #1

emilyg — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:47:54 GMT

Pretty dumb.

Original Blog Entry: Driver Flashes Gun at Police Officer

truesee — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:45:16 GMT

FLORIDA'S TURNPIKE

Driver flashes gun, arrested

A Hollywood man is accused of threatening a police officer with a gun while they drove on the Florida turnpike.

DAVID SMILEY

Diego Jose Feliciano was arrested on the Florida Turnpike after he allegedly waved a revolver at a Miami police officer driving an unmarked car.

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.

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