LAUDERDALE LAKES, FLA. (WSVN) - A man has been arrested after deputies said he opened fire on a driver during a road rage incident in Lauderdale Lakes.
Broward Sheriff’s Office said the victim was driving south on State Road 7, Tuesday afternoon, when 32-year-old Walter Tilley started to honk at him and began driving erratically.
“Yelling, screaming profanities at my passenger window,” said the victim, who spoke to 7News under condition of anonymity.
Tilley, who was driving a black Toyota, fired a single gunshot and proceeded to follow the victim’s Jeep, deputies said. The victim said he pulled into a parking lot off 37th Street, and the suspect followed.
“At that point, he got out of his vehicle. I pulled into the parking lot as well,” the victim recounted. “He went around to the passenger side of his vehicle and then took another shot at my car.”
According to BSO, the Toyota was registered to the suspect’s girlfriend.
She told investigators Tilley had borrowed her car during the time of the incident.
She said he kept a handgun in her house until she discovered it and made him get rid of it.
The suspect’s girlfriend also told deputies she had witnessed Tilley have road rage-related outbursts in the past.
When deputies showed a photo of Tilley to the victim, he immediately identified him as the person who fired shots at him. However, during an interview, Tilley denied having been involved in the road rage incident.
Deputies said he did confess to owning a firearm until his girlfriend made him get rid of it.
“People wave guns to intimidate people, but most people don’t pull the trigger,” the victim said.
Tilley was back in court Thursday for another road rage crime that occurred on Monday. Prosecutors said he was threatening another driving and pointing a gun at him while saying, “Oh, you want to play?”
He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and discharging a firearm in public. He’s being held on more than $40,000 bond.
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