An angry man rammed a man with his car, sending him to the hospital with serious injuries in a road rage incident in Riverview on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Richard Simpson, 41, of Riverview was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
Around 10:30 a.m., Carlos Caicedo, 39, saw Simpson driving recklessly on a neighborhood street and nearly hit a child, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.
Simpson caught Caicedo taking down his tag information and followed Caicedo's Dodge Durango to the area of Golden Silence Drive and Ambleside Boulevard. Both men got out of the vehicles and began to argue, deputies said.
Soon after, deputies said, Simpson got into his 2003 Honda Civic and drove into Caicedo.
A man working at the neighborhood clubhouse told Bay News 9 he heard tires screeching and walked outside in time to see Simpson "mowing over" Caicedo.
"The guy backed up really quickly, and then came flying forward at him," Justin Pickens said. "Hit the car, hit him, his head hit the windshield. He was bleeding everywhere. Broke his legs. It was bad."
Pickens said Simpson told him he thought Caicedo had a gun and that he responded in self-defense.
However, police said Caicedo did not have a gun.
Writhing in pain, according to witnesses, Caicedo suffered broken limbs and upper-body trauma. He was taken by air ambulance to Tampa General Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition Tuesday afternoon.
A neighbor said he wasn't surprised by what happened because Simpson speeds everywhere and is a problem neighbor.
"Since the day we moved in this place, I’ve been terrorized by this guy," neighbor Arthur Parker said.
Simpson was booked in Hillsborough County's Orient Road Jail.