An Ocala man was arrested for resisting after brake-checking an officer who stopped him for following another driver too closely.
An officer on patrol stopped at the intersection of County Road 466 and U.S. Hwy. 301 at 1:40 p.m. Sunday, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. While at the red light, a newer model white Chevrolet Corvette pulled beside him, the male middle-aged driver of which was actively fighting with 64-year-old Patrick Edgar Potter in the gray 2025 Hyundai Tucson behind him.
However, no threats were made, and neither driver got out of their vehicle to escalate the situation. The brief verbal altercation ended, and the driver of the Corvette tried to address the situation with the officer, not noticing the light turned green. Potter honked the horn, and the driver swiftly sped up to clear the signal and turned onto North U.S. Hwy. 301, the report said.
Potter rapidly accelerated and followed dangerously close to the Corvette. Seeing this, the officer got behind Potter for a traffic stop. He responded by brake checking the officer, almost causing a collision between them, the report said.
After stopping near the intersection with Northeast 121st Lane, Potter aggressively got out of his vehicle. He was told to get back in the Hyundai multiple times, but he made no attempt to comply. The officer again gave the command, to which he responded, “Who are you,” in a noncompliant manner, the report said.
Potter was subsequently detained in handcuffs and escorted to the sidewalk to get him away from traffic. He tried several times to pull away by forcefully jerking his body, dropping his right shoulder and leaning into the officer in an apartment attempt at shoulder-checking. He also stated, “Don’t man handle me…”
He was arrested on charge of resist (obstruct without violence) due to his actions. He was then transported to the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $1,000 bond.