Florida has produced some legendary road rage moments.
But none quite involved a 57-year-old woman, a glass jar of vegan mayonnaise, and a confession that would haunt her in Circuit Court.
A Florida woman threw vegan mayo at a stranger – and the place she got caught is almost as good as the crime itself.
A Honk, a Swerve, and Then a Glass Jar to the Face
August 20th, Lee County, Florida.
A woman is driving east on Corkscrew Road toward Interstate 75 when a white utility van cuts her off without signaling.
She honks.
That's all she did.
The van's passenger – Christine Sweet, 57 years old, apparently having the worst day of her life – responded by screaming profanities while her driver slowed down and boxed the woman in.
The two vehicles ended up side by side, windows open.
https://twitter.com/eclipsethis2003/status/2102157664977334565?s=20
She saw an arm extend from the passenger window.
Then she felt a sharp pain just below her eye.
The object was a glass jar of Vegenaise.
Not regular mayonnaise.
Vegan mayonnaise.
Hurled directly into a stranger's face at close range.
Sweet immediately told her driver, "I hit her in the face, go, go, go."
The van sped off.
The victim drove to Coconut Point Hospital with a cut under her eye.
The Strip Mall Ambush and One Question Nobody Expected
Almost a month goes by.
Sweet has presumably moved on with her life.
https://twitter.com/streetaddictz/status/2102116379306405900?s=20
Then on September 17th, the victim spots the exact same white van parked at San Carlos Plaza and calls the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies arrive and find Christine Sweet.
What followed is one of the greatest exchanges in the history of Florida law enforcement.
A deputy asks the question nobody in criminal justice had ever needed to ask.
"What is Vegenaise?" he asked.
"It's, um, a vegan version of mayonnaise," came the reply.
The deputy considered this, then delivered his verdict: "You just can't throw mayo at someone."
Sweet admitted she threw it.
Deputies booked her into Lee County jail at 5:28 a.m. on September 18th.
Bond was set at $10,000 per charge – $20,000 total.
She was released the following afternoon.
Now here's the part that will surprise you.
Sweet is facing two second-degree felonies: aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and throwing a deadly missile into an occupied vehicle under Florida Statute 790.19.
Each charge carries up to 15 years.
That glass jar of Vegenaise could cost Christine Sweet 30 years of her life.
She goes before Circuit Court on October 19th.
Florida law doesn't care what's inside the container.
A glass jar thrown into someone's face is a deadly missile – the same statute used for rocks and bricks hurled at moving cars.
Florida has seen the food-as-weapon genre before.
A Pinellas County man threw pasta at a driver over glaring headlights.
A Polk County man launched a salsa jar at a car that wouldn't let him merge – with a 9-year-old in the back seat.
https://twitter.com/__0HOUR1_/status/2101115306483892729?s=20
The difference here is that Sweet's jar connected – hard enough to send someone to the hospital – and then she told her driver to flee, and then she confessed everything to the deputies who showed up at the strip mall.
The vegan mayo was the weapon.
The confession was the case.
That Lee County deputy deserves a commendation – because "you just can't throw mayo at someone" is nine words that capture Florida, road rage, and the entire American condition in one breath.
You can't throw mayo at someone, Christine.
Vegan or otherwise.
Sources:
- Gavin Baio, "You Just Can't Throw Mayo at Someone," Yahoo News / Gulf Coast News, September 20, 2026.
- Joe Espy, "Florida woman accused of throwing glass mayo bottle at driver in road rage," Fox 13 News, September 20, 2026.
- Florida Legislature, Florida Statute 790.19 – Shooting into or Throwing Deadly Missiles into Occupied Vehicles, flsenate.gov.
- Landon Mion, "Florida man allegedly chucks pasta at driver during road rage over glaring headlights," Fox News, April 30, 2024.
- Florida Highway Patrol, "FHP: Man throws empty jar of salsa at car that wouldn't let him merge," WPTV.
