A 60-year-old Columbia resident was arrested Saturday afternoon after threatening another motorist with a knife on Stadium Boulevard.
MU Police Department Capt. Scott Richardson said officers responded at about 3 p.m. to a driver following another vehicle closely on Stadium Boulevard near Mick Deaver Memorial Drive.
“It looks like a case of road rage,” Richardson. “We were made aware by phone that one car was following another too closely. It escalated to them having a yelling match while still inside their vehicles.”
Richardson said one subject proceeded to pull over to the side of the road. Columbia resident Clifford Smithson, the driver of the second car, followed suit and exited his vehicle.
“The individual in the first car noticed the other kept his hand behind his back the whole time,” Richardson said. “The suspect then brandished a knife that he had been holding. There was no physical contact, but brandishing the knife is a threat and counts as assault in itself.”
Smithson was arrested on suspicion of unlawful use of a weapon and third-degree assault. According to the Missouri Revised Statutes, assault without physical injury is classified as “intimidation,” a Class C misdemeanor, and brandishing the knife is a misdemeanor weapons charge.
Smithson was taken to Boone County Jail on Saturday and released Sunday on $1,000 bond.