Man arrested in road rage/hit and run incident

A 46-year-old Homestead man was arrested Friday night on a warrant that was issued after a Feb. 2 road rage incident in the Upper Keys.

Calvin Gene Burdick was charged with battery and hit and run.

There were no serious injuries reported.

Deputy Edward Swogger responded to reports of an 11:31 p.m. assault in the area of Mile Marker 106. Shortly after receiving the call, Deputy Swogger was notified that a Florida Highway Patrol trooper was with the reporting person — a tow truck driver — at Mile Marker 105 whereupon Deputy Swogger spoke to the tow truck driver. The victim stated he was driving the tow truck behind a white pickup truck near Mile Marker 107. The white pickup truck was traveling about 10 mph below the posted 45 mph speed limit. The tow truck driver stated he flashed his high beam headlights a few times in response. The white pickup truck then began to break multiple times and travel well below the posted speed limit. Eventually, the tow truck rear-ended the white pickup truck.

Both vehicles stopped in the roadway and both the tow truck driver and the suspect, later identified as Burdick, exited. Burdick approached the tow truck driver and hit the tow truck driver the head with a closed fist. Burdick continued to hit the tow truck driver while the tow truck driver was on the ground. The pickup up driver then exited the scene without exchanging information with the tow truck driver. The tow truck had a dashboard camera that captured the incident. The tow truck driver was able to provide a license plate number for the white pickup truck.

Deputy Swogger used that information to identify Burdick, whom the tow truck driver later identified in a photo lineup.

A warrant was issued for Burdick.

Burdick was booked into jail Friday night.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]