What started as a routine stop at a red light in south Miami-Dade turned into a surreal roadside confrontation, with deputies saying a man tried to yank an American flag off a stranger’s car, pointed a gun at the windshield and fired a shot before declaring, “this is an act of war” while being booked into jail.
The victims told deputies they were stopped at a light when the suspect walked up and tried to remove the flag from their vehicle. They said he then followed them in his own car, trailing them through a nearby shopping plaza while aiming a gun at their front windshield. Deputies later reported finding a firearm and a spent shell casing inside the suspect’s vehicle.
Arrest and charges
Miami-Dade jail records show deputies arrested 33-year-old David Allen Snyder Jr., who was booked on charges that include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, attempted second-degree murder, discharging a firearm from a vehicle and improper exhibition of a firearm, according to NBC 6 South Florida. The arrest report states a deputy saw Snyder pointing a gun at the victims’ vehicle, ordered him to drop the weapon and then took him into custody.
Scene and timeline
The confrontation unfolded around 12:40 p.m. in the 25200 block of South Dixie Highway, when the victims said they felt their car jolt and later noticed a man at the rear of the vehicle apparently trying to pull off the American flag, according to Local 10. The driver said they took off, heading into a shopping plaza at SW 264th Street and South Dixie Highway in an effort to get away…