Dwight Smith arrested

The Bucs defensive back faces a felony charge of aggravated assault with a firearm after a road rage incident in Clearwater.

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 17, 2003

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CLEARWATER -- Defensive back Dwight Smith, poised to start for the Bucs at free safety next season, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion that he pointed a gun at another motorist during a road rage incident.

Clearwater police said Smith and the other driver began arguing and exchanging gestures after they tried to merge into the same lane of Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard just after 4 p.m. Smith pulled out a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, which frightened the other driver, police said.

Police later pulled over the white Cadillac Escalade that Smith was driving. He admitted to officers that he brandished the gun, though he denied pointing it at the other motorist, said Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor.

Smith, who lives in Tampa, was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm, a third-degree felony. He posted $5,000 bail and was released from the Pinellas County Jail on Wednesday evening.

The gun was loaded, though a round was not in the chamber, Shelor said.

No one was injured in the incident and no vehicles were damaged.

"I apologize for any negative light that I may have placed on our football team and the entire Buccaneer organization," Smith said in a statement released by the team. "However, it is not appropriate for me to comment any further on the specifics of this matter at this time."

The 5-foot-10, 201-pound Smith is projected as the starter at free safety next season and recently switched from cornerback. He set an NFL record by returning two interceptions for touchdowns in the Bucs' 48-21 win over the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII.

The Bucs had no comment on Smith's arrest.

"It is not appropriate for us to comment on matters such as this until the legal system has run its course," general manager Rich McKay said.

The motorist Smith is suspected of assaulting, John Schultz, 43, of Clearwater, could not be reached Wednesday night. A message left at his home was not returned.

Shelor said Schultz was driving a Chrysler van in the curb lane of Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, heading west. Smith was driving the same direction in the median lane near Hooters restaurant when the road rage began on the city's busiest east-west thoroughfare.

"Each driver apparently felt he had the right of way," Shelor said.

Both men stopped at the red light at Hampton Road and exchanged profanities. Smith then wielded the gun, police said. Schultz called police on his cell phone and provided a description of the SUV and the driver.

"I would think both of these men would understand how knuckleheaded and dangerous it is to get involved in a shouting match with each other, much less making threats," Shelor said.

Schultz faces no charges.

After Smith was pulled over in the parking lot of Park Avenue CDs, he told officers he had displayed the gun because he felt threatened, Shelor said.

"He felt that the other party was being very aggressive and he displayed it in a measure of protection," Shelor said.

If Smith had simply displayed the gun, as police say he claimed, he would have been arrested on a lesser charge of reckless display of a handgun. But Schultz provided enough details about the gun and the circumstances that officers arrested Smith on the felony charge, Shelor said.

"His story has a lot of currency," Shelor said. "It's not that we believe one man over another, it's that the victim gave them enough detail that the circumstances dictate this charge."

Officers seized the Escalade, which is registered to someone in Smith's home state of Michigan, and the gun. Though Smith does not have a concealed weapons permit, he was carrying the gun legally, Shelor said.

"It was in his possession properly and safely," he said.

No other charges are expected. Smith had at least two other people with him, but police did not identify them Wednesday night.

Shelor said Schultz did not know Smith was a Bucs player during the incident, even when he pointed him out as the suspect.

Police said Smith was polite to the officers who arrested him.

"He was at all times well-mannered and professional and very accommodating to the police officers," Shelor said.

-- Staff writer Rick Stroud contributed to this report.