Ridgeland driver reportedly swerved, then sped up. That’s when a gun came out.

A Ridgeland driver was accused of waving a handgun at a family in a car driving next to her during a road rage incident Monday morning in Okatie, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report released Wednesday.

The woman, who turned herself into authorities Wednesday morning and was released from the Beaufort County Detention Center a few hours later, reportedly swerved in front of another car while driving on Okatie Highway.

The male driver of the other car — in which his wife and daughter were also riding — told deputies he attempted to go around her and “honked his horn once to make her aware of her erratic driving,” the report said.

The woman then sped up and was seen by the other driver tapping a “pistol on the dashboard of her car,” according to the report.

When the male driver followed woman to get a glimpse of her license plate, the female driver “continued to wave the pistol around,” the report said. The wife of the driver then called the police. Eventually the male driver lost sight of the other car in traffic, he told deputies.

Deputies interviewed the woman, who claimed the family in the other car was screaming and making lewd gestures at her, according to the report. The male driver followed her, she said, and she also called the police, the report said.

She later told deputies she was “in possession of a pistol during the incident, which she grabbed in ‘self-defense’,” according to the report. Deputies learned the pistol was legal, but the woman was not in possession of a concealed weapon permit.

A judge determined there was sufficient evidence for an arrest warrant for a pointing a firearm charge and deputies “explained the procedures for turning herself in,” the report said.

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Ridgeland driver reportedly swerved, then sped up. That’s when a gun came out.."