DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man was arrested and charged with attempted murder after, witnesses said, shots were fired due to road rage in Deerfield Beach.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies took 26-year-old Antonio Chestnut into custody on Friday.
Deputies and Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue crews responded to the scene near Northeast Second Street and North Ocean Drive.
Surveillance video captured a man as he got out of his car and shot at a white pickup truck in the middle of traffic.
“It’s 100% road rage. Two cars sitting out front and just started shooting the truck because he was following too closely,” said Jacob, a witness who did not give his last name. “Then, they had a little shootout. I saw him shooting.”
“We heard a couple of shots go off,” witness Eric Funke said. “We thought it was fireworks. At the end, it was a louder, deep like ‘boom.'”
Security cameras showed Chestnut as he ran into a parking lot while holding the gun.
Jacob said he ran after the suspect.
“I took off after him. At the end of the day, I followed him over to the other street to try to tackle him and wait for the police, and that was it,” he said.
The shooting took place near restaurants on the city’s S-curve that were packed with diners at the time.
“Just got everyone inside, making sure everybody is OK,” said a restaurant employee who asked not to be identified or show her face on camera. “The guy took off; he went northbound.”
Coincidentally, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony was in the area having lunch when the shooting occurred.
“I was actually in plainclothes, Hust like everybody else, I was coming up here to have some lunch,” he said. “I can see a large volume of roughly 20-plus people running through the area, cutting through traffic, so kind of a clue that something was going wrong.”
The truck’s driver, his windshield filled with bullet holes, was able to pull over, witnesses said.
Accoding to police, the truck’s driver was grazed by bullets. Witnesses said he seemed to have cuts in his face, possibly from broken glass.
“Unfortunately, they put a lot of people in harm’s way by being reckless and over something minor as far as traffic concerns,” Tony said.
Deputies said the two men were armed, but it is not clear whether they both fired their weapon.
“We do know nine total rounds ended up striking one of the vehicles that were involved,” Tony said.
Fred LaFemina’s Hyundai sedan’s rear bumper was detached in the mayhem.
“I was heading south,” he said. “The SUV was heading north, and he clipped me trying to get by me and took my bumper off.”
Traffic was blocked on the A1A and Hillsboro Boulevard Bridge in the area while investigators worked the scene.
Chestnut, a Deerfield Beach resident, was taken into custody, and was later placed under arrest and charged with attempted murder.
Fortunately, no one else was injured, despite the crowded street.
“Anytime we have any shooting in broad daylight on the beach, it’s too much,” said Tony.
Although they have charged Chestnut in connection to the shooting, the investigation continues, deputies said.
Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.