Sweetie - I wasn't talking about the responsible people. I was talking about this guy (who I just happen to google right now - this was only the first story to pop up)
http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/593447.htm...
Still being pummeled after he ran back to his van, Thomas Thompson
got his gun and shot the other driver. Authorities, weighing his action,
haven't charged him with anything yet.
David Haroldo Figueroa was so enraged over a minor fender bender, Broward sheriff's deputies say, that he pummeled the other driver and then attempted to yank the man out of his van when he tried to drive away.
Thomas Warren Thompson, 50, answered fists with gunfire, BSO said, blasting Figueroa with a gun he had stashed in the van.
Figueroa, 28, died at a nearby hospital. Thompson's fate is less certain.
The Fort Lauderdale man was taken to the BSO Public Safety Building, where detectives questioned him for some time -- but did not immediately charge him with a crime.
''Homicide detectives recognize that this incident has elements pertaining to self-defense,'' BSO said in a press release.
The Broward state attorney's office will give the case a full legal review and consider charges.
Here's what happened, according to BSO.
Some time after 11 a.m. Thursday, Figueroa -- behind the wheel of a gold Chrysler 300 -- rear-ended Thompson's white van on Dixie Highway, somewhere between East Oakland Park Boulevard and Northeast 34th Court.
Thompson hopped out of the van and went to speak with Figueroa, who was furious over a ''scratch'' on his Chrysler, and began throwing haymakers at Thompson, who suffered bruises from the scrum.
That's when Thompson ran back to his van, with Figueroa, of Lauderdale Lakes, on his tail.
The two struggled inside the vehicle, which is where Thompson opened fire. BSO did not reveal where he was hit or how many times.
Paul Remy, 48, of Lauderhill, was working security at a nearby jewelry store when he heard a bang, looked out the window and saw traffic backed up. People started getting out of their cars.
Remy went outside to take a look. There he found Figueroa flat on the ground. And the apparent shooter calmly standing by.
''It's pretty sad,'' Remy said.
``I was in an accident a couple of months ago and this didn't happen. I think it is ridiculous that people have so much anger in them.''
Both men have arrest records, although Figueroa's arrests were more frequent and for more violent crimes.
In Maryland, he faced criminal charges in four counties over a five-year stretch. They included first-degree assault, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, concealing a deadly weapon and attempted first-degree murder.
After the homicide arrest, he ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and was sentenced to a year in jail. However, he was transferred to a work-release center after a couple of months behind bars, Maryland records indicate.
Thompson's run-ins with the law over the last three decades usually involved drugs and prostitution. Twenty-eight years ago, in 1980, he faced four felony charges -- including firing a weapon into an occupied building -- but was not convicted of any of them.
He started an alarm company in 2004, and has had no brushes with the law since.
However, Rafiqul Haque has noticed a change in Thompson in recent months. Haque owns USA Grocers, a convenience store adjacent to Thompson's North Dixie Highway home. Once friendly and outgoing, Thompson now let the bushes lining his yard grow high and has an electric gate blocking his driveway.
''He's a very funny character,'' Haque said. ``I'm not surprised he was involved in something like this.''
