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Political road rage

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The woman escaped by hiding in this park.
A woman became a road rage victim Tuesday not because of the way she drove, but because of how she voted in the last presidential election.
It happened in Tampa and the entire drama was recorded during a 911 call.

Officers say Nathan Winkler, 31, saw a Bush-Cheney bumper sticker on Michelle Fernandez's car and showed her a sign of his own.

"He drove up next to me, with his, he has a sign hanging from his windshield, passenger window that says something about the war in Iraq," Fernandez said during her call to 911. "And he literally tried to run me off the road. And I'm just trying, I'm just getting away from him right now, but I mean I'm shaking like a leaf."

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Fernandez stayed on the phone with the 911 operator as Winkler allegedly tried to hit her.

"Oh, here he is again, here he is again," Fernandez screamed. "I have my kids in the car. He's running after my car. He's in the middle of the street."

When the 911 operator asked, "Was that him blowing his horn at you," Fernandez responded, "No, I was just blowing a horn at somebody because I'm running stoplights and everything else to get away from him."

The 911 operator tried to convince Fernandez to drive to a police station, but she was afraid to stop.

Winkler was tracked to this home.
"Will they be ready for me?" asked Fernandez. "Because, I've got kids in the car and everything else."

Fernandez eventually got away by hiding in a park. Officers traced Winkler's license plate to his Tampa home, where they found his handwritten message still inside the car.

It said, "Never forget Bush's illegal oil war murdered thousands in Iraq."

Winkler is facing one count of aggravated stalking. He was released from jail Wednesday on $2,000 bond.




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