THONOTOSASSA — A man was arrested Saturday on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for threatening workers from a car repossession company with a gun and telling them to "drop the car or else," according to an arrest report.
The 2012 Hyundai Sonata was already hooked up to the company's tow truck when the man, James Martin, Jr., 29, of Thonotosassa, came out of his home on Eastfield Road. Martin began removing his possessions with the workers' permission, then went back inside to retrieve the gun, Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies wrote in the report.
He emerged and walked toward his car, pulled the gun from his waistband and fired it into the ground four times, according to the report.
That's when he threatened them.
The workers told deputies they feared they'd be shot so they unhooked the car from their tow truck, fled from the home and called 911.
Martin was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and booked into a Hillsborough County jail. At the time of his arrest, deputies found marijuana in the car and tacked on an additional possession of cannabis charge, records show.
Contact Katie Mettler at kmettler@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3446. Follow @kemettler.