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Man faces charge in second road rage

He's already awaiting sentencing in an earlier road rage case. Now he is arrested in connection with a another incident.

By PATRICK COOPER

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 30, 2001


ST. PETERSBURG -- A St. Petersburg man scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in a road rage case is facing new charges after another incident Sunday.

Jerry White, 28, was charged with aggravated assault Sunday after he confronted another man and threatened him with a golf club, police said.

The incident began when White and the second man, Jason Unger, each reached stop signs at Hobson Street and Tennessee Avenue NE, police said. White waved for Unger to go ahead.

Unger, 31, made a U-turn, apparently angering White, police said. Both men got out of their cars and exchanged words, police said.

Unger reportedly returned to his house at 152 Tennessee Ave. NE and White to his home at 6310 Cedar St. NE, about a block and a half away.

Ten minutes later, White showed up in Unger's driveway, wielding a golf club, police said. As Unger's mother and a neighbor looked on, police said, White threatened Unger but walked away without striking him.

In an interview Monday, White's wife, Laura, said Unger had cut off her husband and later pushed him as they stood in the intersection.

"He was provoked. He didn't just do it out of the blue," she said. "My husband shouldn't have gone back there, but that guy should have known better, too."

State records show White has a history of driving offenses, including speeding, not wearing a seat belt and driving without a license. His last driver's license expired more than a year ago.

According to police, White was due in court Thursday to be sentenced in a previous road rage case. In the July 1999 incident, authorities said White punched a man who fell and injured his head on his car.

White pleaded no contest to a felony battery charge and a minor drug charge in that case.

Laura White said both incidents have two sides to them but are all examples of why to avoid road rage.

"People don't know who's behind the wheel of the other vehicle," she said. "People should trust God more, rather than take matters into their own hands."

White is being held at Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail. Unger, a pilot, was unavailable for comment Monday.

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