Sometimes it just feels good to honk the horn at a driver who does something risky or offensive during the morning commute.
But sometimes honking can trigger road rage in a person with a gun, as police say it did Monday in Ventura.
According to the Ventura Police Department, a Ventura man followed a female driver, blocked her car with his vehicle, and then brandished a gun at her after she honked at him.
James Wilson, 60, was arrested and booked at the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of brandishing a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm and possession of a stolen firearm, according to authorities.
The incident began a little before 8 a.m. Monday when the woman and her husband, whose names were not released, were approaching Victoria Avenue on Ventura Boulevard. The woman told police that Wilson cut her off, so she honked at him.
When the couple reached the stoplight, police said, Wilson got out of the car and got into an argument with the woman. Wilson then followed the woman’s car to her husband’s workplace near the intersection of Olivas Park Drive and Palma Drive, police said.
Wilson allegedly blocked the woman’s car in the parking lot and walked toward her holding a firearm, police said. He didn’t point the gun at her, police said, but told her she wasn’t “tough” before getting into his car and fleeing.
The husband then reported the incident to 911 operators and provided Wilson’s vehicle license plate number. A California Highway Patrol car happened to be in front of Wilson’s car and stopped him, with the help of Ventura police, in front of the Ventura County Government Center on Victoria Avenue, a few miles from the reported confrontation, police said.