Man pulls gun when party crowd tries to stop him from driving drunk, Florida cops say

An act of kindness took a dangerous turn at a Florida party when a man pulled a gun on people trying to keep him from driving drunk, according to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.

It happened Saturday, Sept. 17, at a house party in DeFuniak Springs, 80 miles east of Pensacola, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

One of the attendees called 911 to report an armed man at the party was threatening the other guests, the sheriff’s office said.

“The investigation revealed the suspect got his truck stuck when he was trying to leave the party and started slinging mud on other vehicles. Several people were trying to stop him from driving drunk,” officials said.

“When a female went into (his) truck to get the keys, he became angry and retrieved a handgun from the center console and loaded it,” officials said. “After getting the gun from his truck (he) pointed it at several people.”

Deputies arrested the 21-year-old Valparaiso man at the scene, and a search revealed he had “a 9 mm handgun in his waistband,” officials said.

No one was hurt during the incident.

The suspect was charged with eight felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, according to Walton County jail records. He was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and intent/threat to do violence, records show.

He was released Sept. 18 on a $5,000 bond, records show.

This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 9:08 AM with the headline "Man pulls gun when party crowd tries to stop him from driving drunk, Florida cops say."