A simple honk of a car horn triggered a terrifying confrontation in a Buckeye parking lot Tuesday afternoon, when a man allegedly responded by retrieving an AR-15 style rifle from his vehicle and pointing it directly at another driver.
Erik French, 32, was taken into custody shortly after the incident near Watson Road and Sundance Avenue after police used license plate reader technology to track him down within the surrounding area. The rifle was recovered at the time of his arrest.
According to investigators, the confrontation began when French, driving a Jeep Gladiator, nearly backed into another vehicle while pulling out of a parking spot. When the other driver — a woman — honked to alert him, French allegedly got out of his vehicle, retrieved the rifle from the back seat, and aimed it at her. She drove away immediately and called 911.
Buckeye police credited the woman’s decision to leave the scene rather than engage as the reason no one was hurt. Officers located French nearby shortly after responding to the call, aided by the department’s Real Time Information Center, which pulls data from license plate readers throughout the area to help identify and track vehicles in real time.
French was booked into jail on a felony disorderly conduct charge involving a weapon. He has not yet entered a plea.
Buckeye police used the incident to renew a public safety reminder: if confronted with road rage, don’t engage — leave, get somewhere safe, and call for help.
