PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- An apparent road rage altercation involving a machete on the El Jobean Bridge Monday ended in arrest for a Punta Gorda man.
38-year-old Michael Cittadino is facing charges of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Criminal Mischief, and Resisting an Officer Without Violence.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, the altercation happened at 4:40 p.m. Monday while traffic was stopped on the bridge due to ongoing bridge repairs from a crash on Saturday.
Deputies saw four men standing outside their vehicles engaging in a confrontation. As they approached, three of the men claimed Cittadino had a machete and had damaged a windshield with it before throwing it back into his vehicle.
They told detectives that after their vehicles merged lanes due to construction barriers, Cittadino blocked the lane and got out of his vehicle and began swinging the machete at one of the victims. That victim exited his vehicle to draw Cittadino away from his girlfriend and child inside. The victim was joined by two other co-workers who were in another vehicle nearby.
Cittadino was transported to a local hospital for reported back pain, and then to the Charlotte County Jail once he was cleared.
