The party was over before it began for two teenagers who were shot at while fleeing a girl’s birthday bash in Southwest Ranches.
Barbaro Nelson Gonzalez, 47, was arrested Monday and charged with two counts of attempted murder for allegedly firing at a pickup truck as it drove away from his home about 10 p.m. March 12, court records show.
According to the arrest report, the two juveniles showed up that Saturday night after being invited by other partygoers, but when the birthday girl found out she went outside and told them to leave because “it’s gonna get ugly” if her parents found out.
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The two teens backed the Chevrolet Colorado out of the driveway onto the 6300 block of Southwest 190th Avenue and were about to leave.
The daughter tried to prevent Gonzalez from confronting the teenagers, but he walked to the road and stood in front of the truck, the report stated.
Gonzalez was in the headlights walking toward the truck which was in reverse. When he pulled out a silver handgun the truck drove around him and sped westbound out of the neighborhood, Davie police said.
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Gonzalez denied having a gun and said he had to step out of the way to avoid being hit, but security camera video showed otherwise.
Gonzalez later told police he fired one shot as the truck passed him and a second as it sped away, investigators said.
“[I] was in front of [the truck], so when I moved and he went like that, that’s when I shot him, when he went by me,” the report quoted Gonzalez as saying.
A silver .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver was recovered.
The video showed the muzzle flash of the gun and showed Gonzalez standing his ground as the truck went around him, police said.
There were two bullet holes in the side and rear of the truck. Neither teen was wounded. Their names were redacted from the police report.
The mother of one of the boys said she wants to prosecute Gonzalez and recover the $2,925 cost of the truck repair, the report stated.
At the suspect's first court appearance Tuesday, Broward assistant state attorney Eric Linder said Gonzalez and his daughter were never in any danger.
“This was an act out of anger rather than defense,” he said.
The judge set bonds totaling $160,000 and Gonzalez was released from the Broward County Jail.
