Drivers shoot daughters in Florida road rage confrontation
FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Two men face attempted murder charges for allegedly firing into each other's vehicles on a busy Florida highway and wounding each other's daughters, who were passengers in their back seats.
William Hale, of Douglasville, Georgia, and Frank Allison, of Callahan, Florida, were charged last week with attempted second-degree murder in the Oct. 8 confrontation on U.S. Highway 1 in Nassau County, which is in the Florida's northeasternmost corner.
'œSometimes we see people acting stupid and doing dumb things out on the highway,'ť Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said during a news conference last week. 'œThey sometimes let their emotions get the best of them, and they don't really think about the consequences of their actions or what could happen as the results of their stupidity.'ť
A witness told deputies that both vehicles were being driven so erratically and engaging in a 'œcat and mouse" chase that he called the authorities out of concern, according to an incident report.
Hale, driving a truck with relatives as passengers, told deputies that he and Allison were 'œbrake checking," or braking in front of each other repeatedly, during the confrontation. He said at some point, he heard a 'œpow" at his back door, so he grabbed a gun he kept in his center console and fired out of the driver's window, according to the incident report.
'œIt was an instant reaction," Hale said, noting that he fired 'œeverything that was in the clip," deputies reported.
Allison told deputies that he fired his gun at the truck's bed or tire after a water bottle was thrown into his car. Before the water bottle was thrown, his wife had been 'œflicking them off," he said.
'œMr. Allison said his goal of firing the shot was to '~get out of the whole situation,'" the deputies reported.
Hale's 5-year-old daughter suffered a wound to her upper calf, while Allison's 14-year-old daughter suffered a collapsed lung, according to the report.
"Thankfully, no one was killed in this incident, but it could have very easily turned out that way," Leeper said. 'œThere could have been two dead kids because of two stupid grown men.'ť
There was no attorney listed for Hale in an online docket. Phyllis Wiley, who is listed as Allison's attorney on the docket, said in an email Monday that her representation was under review and that she couldn't comment.