Florida deputy charged in Taco Bell road rage case involving a gun and a burrito

A Florida corrections officer pulled a gun on a couple who he said cut him off leaving a restaurant parking lot and tossed a burrito at his car.

Thomas Thompson, a Lake County detention deputy, was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and improper exhibition of a firearm in connection with the road rage incident, reported WPXI-TV.

A married couple told police they were leaving a Taco Bell restaurant Monday in Mount Dora when a vehicle pulled alongside them flashing “fake-sounding police sirens.”

The driver, later identified as the 45-year-old Thompson, said he was a police officer, pointed a pistol at the couple, and told them they had run two stop signs.

The man, Charles Newcomb, drove away, but he said Thompson followed them while swerving and threatening to shoot them.

Newcomb said he threw a burrito at Thompson’s car and pulled into a pharmacy parking lot to call 911.

Thompson denied displaying a gun and told police the couple’s vehicle nearly crashed into him while leaving the Taco Bell lot, and he said Newcomb threw food at him when he pulled alongside the car to check on their well-being.

Police said Thompson had a black gun that matched the couple’s description, and officers said his personal vehicle had working sirens.

The detention deputy was suspended by the sheriff’s office pending a review of the case.

Update: Thompson was arrested again Wednesday on domestic violence charges.

Police said his wife claimed Thompson shoved her during an argument Monday, the same day as the burrito and gun incident, and caused injuries to her hand.

She said Thompson had been violent toward her before.

The sheriff's office has started the process for firing Thompson.