PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - Multiple bullets pierced the windshield of a BMW in Pembroke Pines in what police are calling a case of road rage involving children.
Cellphone video obtained by 7News showed the moment Pembroke Pines Police officers arrested the driver responsible along the 2400 block of North University Drive, Wednesday afternoon.
The next day, 33-year-old Joshua Alion Ter Louw-Heflin appeared before a judge. He faces several counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and child abuse.
“Your Honor, this is on the basis that the defendant fired multiple rounds at the vehicle,” said a prosecutor.
Investigators said the suspect opened fire at a vehicle just before 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Inside sat a father and his two children.
“Minor children were present in the vehicle. These children had to shield themselves to prevent from being hit,” said the prosecutor.
Nobody was hit, but the neighborhood was jolted by all the gun-toting action.
Diners at the well-known Capriccio’s Ristorante along University Drive got an impromptu show with dinner.
“We saw like 25 police cars, and I saw a guy handcuffed,” said a woman who was dining at the restaurant.
The cellphone video captured the tense moments that came after the road rage shooting.
Police said it started near the restaurant, along the 9500 block of Sheridan Street, where the suspect was traveling eastbound on Sheridan Street when he was cut off by the victim’s vehicle.
Moments later, detectives said, Louw-Heflin popped off several rounds from inside his white BMW sedan into the victim’s vehicle. Fortunately, the family inside was not injured.
7News cameras near the spot where the motorist was arrested showed bullet holes in a car.
Police said a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy actually saw the initial shooting, conducted a traffic stop and detained the shooter until police officers arrived.
“There was the guy, and they were chasing him, came down and then they were with guns,” said the owner of Capriccio’s.
The cellphone video was recorded by staff and customers.
As for Louw-Heflin, he is being held at the Broward County Jail on $176,000 bond. The judge has ordered him to refrain from driving once he bonds out. .
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