Road rage driver accused of pulling gun on mother with kids in the car by Tacoma Mall

A woman yelled at another driver for cutting her off in the Tacoma Mall parking lot and found herself facing the barrel of a gun.

The confrontation occurred about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday after a 31-year-old man in a Kia SUV allegedly cut in front of the woman’s vehicle.

“They argued, and during the argument the driver pulled a black holster containing a pistol, drew the pistol, and pointed it directly at her,” according to court documents.

The woman and the three children in her car were not injured.

She called 911 after the man drove away.

Officers were able to track the man’s SUV to his house, where they used a loudspeaker to speak with him until he came outside.

The man admitted to owning two pistols and pulling out a gun during the road rage incident in the mall parking lot.

“The defendant said the other driver was driving aggressively and it scared him, so he pulled out his gun and removed it from the holster, but he did not point it at her,” Pierce County prosecutors wrote in charging papers.

He opened a safe in his Lakewood home so officers could seize a loaded Glock semi-automatic pistol.

On Wednesday, the 31-year-old pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault and was released on his own recognizance.

Prosecutors said they might charge him with additional counts of assault for the children inside the woman’s vehicle.

This story was originally published July 18, 2019 at 1:47 PM.