Bicyclist almost hit by car gets arrested in Naples

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EAST NAPLES, Fla.- A Naples woman says she was arrested after a car almost hit her while she was riding her bike. She confronted the man, hitting his hat with her finger and was arrested.

The 7-Eleven where the confrontation happened caught video of the angry encounter. While the store would not release the video, the owner says it didn’t show the woman slapping the man but showed her hand go inside the car.

“It’s all blown out of proportion,” said Lauren Ferrara who was arrested for battery. “He almost hit me [on my bike] and I flipped him off and shouldn’t have.”

According to reports, Ferrara and her fiancé were riding bikes near the intersection of Airport Pulling Road and Estey Avenue.

Reports show their bikes and a car almost collided then the man in the car pulled into the 7-Eleven parking lot.

“It could all have been avoided if he kept riding along,” said Ferrara.

She says the man started yelling at her so she yelled back.

“He was calling me names like stupid, blonde,” said Ferrara.

Authorities say Ferrara and her fiancé went up to the car with their fingers pointed like a gun. But Ferrara maintains she never slapped the man or hit him.

“Oh, I didn’t slap him. No, I just touched his hat on accident,” said Ferrara coming out of the Collier County Jail. “I’m sorry and I didn’t do anything. It was his fault and I’m not a violent person,” said Ferrara.

Ferrara is facing battery charges. The victim did not return our calls.

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