Martin County has already seen more road rage calls this year than 2023

More and more drivers in Martin County are letting road rage get the best of them, says the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

Kim Morrow from Palm City knows it all too well.

“Somebody was trying to cut me off and the finger was going, they were yelling, and they actually threw something at my car,” said Morrow.

The sheriff’s office is reporting two different road rage incidents that happened on Sunday, where a person flashed their gun at a driver.

The first involved a woman named Jennifer Patnaude, 36. She was on a motorcycle and reportedly yelled, “I will kill you,” while pointing her gun at a driver in a Sonic parking lot.

The other incident happened on US Highway 1 in Hobe Sound. The police report says a driver was trying to make a left onto the road when another driver, 29-year-old Kyle Kutner, almost hit him and later pulled out a gun.

Both people were arrested and charged with aggravated assault.

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“It’s crazy, it’s senseless, a lot of times it’s rage of the moment,” said Rob Killen.

“I mean, it used to be that people were friendlier to each other and now it’s like nobody cares about each other, everybody wants to just react,” added Stuart resident Michael Roth.

Sheriff William Snyder explained, “If somebody cuts you off it’s not the time to be John Wayne, grab your gun and go try to settle the incident. Just take a deep breath, chill out and go your way.”

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The sheriff’s office says in 2023 they responded to 64 calls related to road rage. However, they've already had 63 calls so far this year. We're told 11 of those have been gun related.

Sheriff William Snyder attributes it to the urban growth.

“Traffic is increasing and the more people pack into a dense area, it just naturally follows you have more calls for police service, more acts of aggression,” he said.

It's a change that Martin County drivers say is hard not to notice, but shouldn't be accepted.

“We need to find a way to stop it,” said Morrow.