Floridian draws gun when he sees tourist toss cigarette out car window, cops say

A cigarette butt tossed out by a visitor in the Florida Panhandle ignited a road rage incident when a local man took offense, according to investigators.

The incident happened around noon Tuesday, Sept. 2, in Destin and ended with Caleb Mack of Gulf Breeze arrested during a traffic stop, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said in a Sept. 3 news release.

“The victim, a visitor from Alabama, says it all started after Mack became enraged when she threw a cigarette butt out of her car window,” the sheriff’s office reports.

“When she and her family pulled up to a red light at Highway 98 and Airport Road, she says Mack pulled up beside her yelling, then pulled out a firearm with an optic and mounted light and pointed at her while her teenage children were in the back seat. She says she feared for their lives.”

The incident was reported to law enforcement and a search located 23-year-old Mack still traveling in his vehicle. A “9 mm Glock with an optic and mounted light” was found in his waist band, officials said.

Mack told deputies he showed his firearm during the confrontation but “never pointed it at anyone,” officials said.

He is charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, jail records show.

“Littering may be unlawful but it’s never acceptable to respond with threatened violence,” the sheriff’s office said.

This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 7:12 AM with the headline "Floridian draws gun when he sees tourist toss cigarette out car window, cops say."