Man threatens to ‘pop’ woman with BB gun when she parks too close, Florida cops say

A man thought a driver parked too close to him, so he armed himself with a BB gun and reportedly told her, “This is not a threat. It’s a promise,” Florida authorities said.

Louis Mazzaro, 42, now is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, according to the Cape Coral Police Department.

Mazzaro spotted a woman park next to his car from his third-floor apartment and confronted her from his balcony shortly before 11 p.m. March 17, police wrote in a news release.

Police said he started yelling and cursing when she opened the door to her vehicle, then told her, “Don’t make me come down there. I don’t care if you’re a girl. I will send my daughter.”

The woman told police he stepped away from the balcony and came back with a long-barrel gun that he said was a BB gun.

He said, “I’ll pop you right now … move your car,” according to police.

The woman recounted she moved her vehicle to a different area of the apartment complex because she was afraid for her life, then she called 911, police said.

When officers arrived at the man’s door, he told them he had “grabbed the BB gun and started pretending to load it,” then he showed them a “long-barrel rifle,” according to police.

The woman identified him as the person who threatened her and said she wanted to press charges.

Attorney information for Mazzaro wasn’t available in Lee County records on March 18.

Cape Coral is part of the Fort Myers metropolitan area.

This story was originally published March 18, 2025 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Man threatens to ‘pop’ woman with BB gun when she parks too close, Florida cops say."