Honestly you would have gotten a reckless driving ticket whether you ran into him or not.

If you had hit him, in the eyes of VA law you "failed to maintain control of your vehicle"...being reckless driving. And if you didn't hit him, following so closely could be interpreted as reckless driving as well.

So even if you got in an accident, he would have handed you the same ticket.

As for the muffler.... driving around without one is just asking for a ticket. Its almost too blatant for a police officer to overlook and still uphold his duty.