A Florida woman’s morning commute took a pretty violent turn after they decided to engage in a road rage incident that ended in three women wrestling in the grass outside a Naples medical center. Well, if anyone happened to be injured, at least they were in the right place.
According to the Naples Police Department, the suspect who started the mess was 47-year-old Tabatha Towns. She was arrested on Wednesday, June 24, following the altercation, which was reported to have started on Goodlette-Frank Road.
Apparently, she thought that another car had almost hit her, which is what got her angry in the first place. The victims in the other car later told officers that Towns repeatedly brake-checked them, allegedly slamming on her brakes twice while following closely behind their car.
The situation continued to escalate as both vehicles eventually pulled into a medical center parking lot near 7th Avenue North. What happened next quickly turned physical.
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Towns approached the victims’ vehicle and allegedly reached through the open driver’s side window before punching one of the women in the face. The two victims, who chose to remain anonymous for safety reasons, later described the chaotic encounter.
One of the victims told Gulf Coast News: “I got out of my car. I tried. I definitely defended myself. And then my sister tried to de-escalate the situation. Then she attacked me and my sister. And then we had to defend ourselves against her.”
Police said the confrontation spilled out of the parking lot and into a nearby grassy area, where all three women allegedly became involved in a physical struggle. Investigators found braided hair, eyeglasses, and makeup items left behind in the grassy area where the altercation occurred.
After the confrontation ended, authorities say Towns left the scene and drove to another nearby medical office. Officers later located her there, wearing medical scrubs that reportedly had grass stains on them. It isn’t clear if the scrubs were stolen, if she had her own, or if she worked in that location.
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The incident has once again highlighted concerns surrounding road rage incidents, which can quickly spiral from minor traffic disagreements into dangerous physical confrontations. According to one local named Jake Novotany, these incidents are incredibly common.
“I’ve had people brake check me, ride my bumper. It’s definitely concerning. People get out of their car. They have weapons over something minuscule, like brake checking or riding people’s bumper. Definitely advise people to be careful and definitely tell friends and family, do not get out of the car for anybody.”
Novotany also recommended that drivers install dashboard cameras to help document incidents and potentially discourage aggressive behavior.
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The charges against Towns were not immediately available, though a search on the Collier County Sheriff’s Office’s inmate page finds that she was arrested on two counts of battery (touch or strike) and one count of burglary with assault or battery.
Her court date is scheduled for July 20, and there is no additional information available about her current state in prison. According to this same report, she was arrested in 2025 for failure to obey law enforcement and not stopping.
As a result of the situation, it doesn’t appear that anyone was severely injured. As per usual, all suspects are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.