Assault is a very serious crime in the state of Maryland. Anyone accused of assault will have to work hard and be aggressively represented in order to avoid serious penalties. A teenager who recently was arrested and charged with multiple counts of assault will now have to contemplate this for himself.

The young man was charged with both first- and second-degree assault in the wake of an apparent road rage incident earlier this month. Another driver told police that someone had taken a rifle from the car he was driving and pointed it at the man after a dispute on the road in Rockville, Maryland. The police had little trouble apprehending the man because the other motorist gave authorities a description of the armed man and his vehicle, as well as the license plate number of that vehicle.

People might expect that someone accused of pointing a gun at another person would be charged with a crime. However, it might be surprising that the man was charged with assault even though he did not act on his alleged threat of violence. However, in a nutshell, that's what assault is: a crime that causes a person to anticipate violence or understand that they are being threatened.

Unless there is physical contact, which is the use of actual force, then the crime would be charged as assault rather than as assault and battery. In any case, however, assault by itself is a serious crime to be charged with, and the accused man will face serious consequences if he is ultimately convicted.

Source: MyFoxDC, "Md. Man Accused of Showing Gun in Road-Rage Act," Feb. 16, 2012