Impatient Driver Charged with Aggravated Assault
If you have driven a motor vehicle for very long, you have undoubtedly come across someone like Christopher Tilas of Ocean Township, New Jersey. Mr. Tilas, like many drivers, is apparently far too busy to drive behind your car at the speed of your choosing and will attempt to pass you anytime, anywhere. If unable to complete the pass in a quick and efficient manner, the driver will become frustrated and will usually begin to tailgate you and express their displeasure in a less-than-appropriate manner. Unfortunately for Mr. Tilas, the manner he chose in which to express his displeasure with the slow driver in front of him was not only inappropriate but was also illegal.
Mr. Tilas allegedly pulled up beside the lady in front of him, who he had been unable to pass, and threatened her with a knife. He then pulled up beside her again but retreated when he noticed she was on the phone talking to someone. Unfortunately for him, that someone was the police. After the phone call was made, an officer later spotted Tilas and pulled him over. After a knife was found in his car, Mr. Tilas was arrested. He has been charged with aggravated assault and two weapons offenses.
In Tennessee, an aggravated assault can be committed in several ways. One of those ways is when one person knowingly or intentionally causes another to reasonably fear imminent bodily injury by using or displaying a deadly weapon. Clearly pulling up beside someone and threatening them with a knife fits this definition. Thus, Mr. Tilas would probably be charged with aggravated assault in Tennessee just as he has been in New Jersey. Aggravated assault by intentionally threatening someone with a deadly weapon is a Class C felony in Tennessee, punishable by three to fifteen years in prison. Impatient drivers should consider how such a sentence would cut in to their hectic schedules before they decide to act in the manner described above, as the sentencing judge probably will not consider as a mitigating factor the fact that the offender felt that the driver in front of them was driving too slowly and thus needed to be threatened in order to speed it up.
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