Two men are facing attempted murder and other charges following Friday's drug operation shootout outside the Dania Beach Bass Pro Shops that left an officer and one of the suspects injured.
In addition to the attempted murder charges, Horvin McKenzie, 28, and David Jonathan Ventura are both facing charges of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, as well as possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to a criminal complaint released Monday, an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration began earlier this month when McKenzie told an informant about a scheme to transport about 180 kilograms of cocaine from the Dominican Republic to South Florida.
McKenzie agreed to sell the informant cocaine for $32,000 per kilo, and they agreed to meet Friday at the Bass Pro Shops for a two-kilo sale, the complaint said.
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McKenzie and Ventura arrived at Bass Pro in separate cars, but parked next to each other in parking lot.
When DEA and members of the Broward Sheriff's Office drug task force moved in to arrest them, Ventura pulled out a gun and started firing from inside car at the officers, the complaint said.
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A Plantation officer who was part of the task force was struck in the arm and in a bulletproof vest.
Officers returned fire, hitting Ventura, before they were able to take Ventura and McKenzie into custody, the complaint said.
Ventura and the officer were both hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.
Investigators found a handgun in the car Ventura had been in, and found another loaded handgun and the two kilos of cocaine in McKenzie's car, the complaint said.
McKenzie remained behind bars in Broward Monday on a U.S. Marshals hold, jail records showed. Ventura wasn't listed in jail records. Attorney information wasn't available.
