MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Miami Beach police were investigating a bizarre case of road rage over the weekend.
The incident occurred late Sunday night on the MacArthur Causeway near Bridge Road.
According to a Miami Beach police report, two officers were parked in their police-issued vehicles in the eastbound lanes of the MacArthur Causeway when they saw two vehicles heading east past them.
Police said one of the vehicles was a black Mercedes-Benz SUV and the other was a red Chrysler 200, which had several of its occupants hanging out of it, who were involved in a shouting match with the driver of the SUV.
The officers said they then heard three loud popping sounds, which sounded like gunshots.
Police located the Chrysler and pulled the driver over at the intersection of the MacArthur Causeway and Bridge Road.
All of the occupants were taken into custody, including one who had been reported missing in Homestead.
Police said the SUV was found a short time later and the driver of that vehicle was also detained.
According to the report, police searched both vehicles but no firearms were found.
Detectives said both parties admitted that they were yelling at each other and that several items were thrown from the vehicles toward each other’s vehicles.
According to the report, the driver of the Chrysler told detectives that he dropped fireworks onto the roadway, which is what may have caused the officers to hear what sounded like gunshots.
Police said the driver of the SUV had his two grandchildren in the vehicle, who had to be picked up by their mother at the police station.
After being questioned by police, all of the people involved in the incident were released.
At one point, both the east and westbound lanes of the MacArthur Causeway were shut down.
By 10:45 p.m., police had reopened the westbound lanes.
The eastbound lanes reopened around 11:30 p.m.
No injuries were reported in the road rage incident and it’s unclear what initially led to the altercation.