Dad Left Bloody After Road Rage Incident

Robert Bower was driving his kids to on Monday when another vehicle crossed his path, he later told a Pasco County Sheriff’s deputy.

The frustrating chain of traffic choices that followed ended with Bower being attacked, according to the deputy’s report.

Bower told a deputy he was driving a Chevy Silverado toward the middle school at about 9:30 a.m. when a Honda Accord leaving a subdivision pulled in front of him. Bower told the deputy he passed the Honda and flipped its driver off. The arrest report says it was a no passing zone.

A witness traveling on Collier Parkway told a deputy he saw the Chevy tailgating an Accord and that he saw the drivers pass each other.

Bower and the Accord driver, Brian Todd Gabbard, passed each other two or three times, according to the arrest report.

In the area of 5333 Parkway Blvd., near the school, the vehicles stopped in the roadway. Gabbard left his vehicle and punched out the Silverado’s driver side window, the report stated. 

Gabbard then punched Bower several times, according to the report. Bower’s mouth was bloody, and Gabbard’s hands were bloody. Glass had fallen on Bower’s kids, according to the report.

Gabbard of 22938 Bradenwood Court in Land O' Lakes was arrested Monday, April 23, and charged with burglary with assault or battery. He was released from the Land O' Lakes Jail the same day on $150,000 bond.