Road Rage Hero

Off-duty Lake County (FL) Sheriff’s Deputy Thomas Jones Thompson has been placed on suspension after a recent arrest for charges that include Aggravated Assault with a Firearm and Improper Exhibition of a Firearm. The charges come after a road rage incident in which Thompson attempted to use his personal vehicle while off-duty to make a traffic stop.

A married couple, Charles Christopher and Sarah Nelson Newcomb, had just left a Taco Bell when the sheriff’s department employee decided he didn’t like how they were driving. Thompson, who is a Master Detention Deputy, already had his own siren and rear emergency lights installed on his personal car. It seems that he was premeditating some vigilante traffic justice. On top of this, in 2013 he was reprimanded for checking out spare patrol cars and using them longer than his work hours and duties would require.

Thompson pulled up beside Christopher and Newcombe and ordered them to pull over. The couple had no idea who this guy was and were confused by the sound of his sirens, which they said sounded like a toy. For obvious reasons, they were hesitant to pull over.

According to the couple, Thompson then began stalking them and trying to run them off the road while brandishing a gun and threatening to shoot.

Thompson claims the couple instigated the swerving and attempts at ramming after he identified himself as a deputy and attempted to get them to pull over for “driving erratically.”

At this point, Christopher began yelling obscenities at the man he assumed was just a crazed motorist and chucked a burrito at him.

After the couple filed a report, Thompson was arrested and booked into the jail he works at. According to Sheriff’s Department Lt. John Herrell, Thompson is also currently under investigation for another incident, which is not being disclosed at this time.