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Homeowner pulls gun on Amazon delivery driver in Spotsylvania County
Spotsylvania County police have filed a misdemeanor gun brandishing charge against a 75-year-old man after he flashed a gun at an Amazon driver Monday.
SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. - Spotsylvania County police have filed a misdemeanor gun brandishing charge against a 75-year-old man after he flashed a gun at an Amazon driver Monday.
The Amazon driver, who spoke exclusively with FOX 5, said he delivered a package to the home Monday and was in the process of turning the truck around so he wouldn’t have to back down the long driveway when his truck got stuck in the mud.
Shortly after he got stuck, he says a woman came out of the house and started yelling at him to leave but he explained that he called Amazon to arrange a vehicle to come pull him out.
The driver says the woman’s tone towards him escalated and she used some racially insensitive language towards the driver, who is Black. The driver says he did yell back at her but said he did not threaten the woman in any way.
Moments later, the 75-year-old man, identified by police as Rondall Shiflett, came home and also yelled at the driver, with a gun in hand, using what police characterized as "a racial statement" towards the driver.
At that point, the driver started recording with his cell phone. In the recording, you can hear the driver say he’s going to leave.
"Look, see, it’s cocked," the video captured the man identified as Shiflett saying, "You better go on."
The driver says he’s leaving and starts walking down the driveway away from the home.
"When the tow people come, they’re going to come here and get the truck, sir," the Amazon driver said.
"As long as they do, but not you," Shiflett said, before uttering an expletive.
"I’m going," the driver responded, before saying "You don’t have to hold your gun at me."
"I’m not pointing the gun at you," the homeowner says, "I showed it to you."
After those tense moments, the homeowner changes his tone and says he’ll get a rope to tie to his truck and help tow the Amazon driver out.
"I mean, why couldn’t we just do that from the jump instead of you coming at me like that?" the Amazon driver asked, "I’m a respectable young man, sir. I made a little mistake. I ain’t a bad dude. I’m a nice guy," the driver said.
"You ain’t a nice guy," the homeowner said.
"If that’s how you feel, that’s fine sir. But I know who I am," the driver responded.
The video cuts out, but the Amazon driver said the homeowner helped get his truck out of the driveway and he left.
Later that night, the driver notified the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office what happened. Later on, the sheriff’s office says they arrested Shiflett and charged him on the misdemeanor brandishing charge.
"I personally didn’t want to tell police, but at the end of the day, somebody’s gotta be resolved for something, you know what I mean. That’s not cool for me at the end of the day whether you apologized to me or not, because if that was the case, we could have resulted in you just coming in, helping me just pulling me out and I’m going about my business instead of you coming at me aggressively with a gun," the driver told Fox 5.
FOX 5 did speak with Shiflett by phone Wednesday.
He tells FOX 5 he is not racist, and he was upset because of what he’d heard about the initial confrontation between his wife and the Amazon driver, feeling she may be in danger.
His wife cannot be seen in the video.
Shiflett stressed that he didn’t pull the gun on the driver, but rather showed it, a characterization the driver disagrees with in the video.
Shiflett also said he felt he had a right to hold a gun on his own property.
Shiflett also said he and the driver had a chat at the end of the ordeal, and he was "flabbergasted" when police showed up at his door.
According to court records, Shiflett has an arraignment on the misdemeanor brandishment charge on February 12.