Rabbit season? In Florida, it’s TRUCK season!

By now, you’ve probably seen the video of the guy in Hileah (a suburb of Miami) who expressed his displeasure with AT&T maintenance trucks parked in front of his house by calmly fetching his revolver and shooting out their tires and engines, reloading several times:

Let’s face it, given the lousy service and way telcos rip us off, who hasn’t wanted to shoot up their stuff? (I know a lot of Canadians who’d happily fire a grenade launcher into a Rogers or Bell Canada truck.)

The Miami Herald reports that the shooter in question is retired firefighter Jorge Jove. They write:

Jorge Jove didn’t like the AT&T work trucks in front of his Hialeah home Wednesday morning. So, he retrieved his revolver and began shooting out the tires and the engine, police said.

Though Jove began firing to kill only a vehicle, a Hialeah sergeant says he saw Jove fire at an AT&T worker in a raised bucket lift. Hialeah police arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm and criminal mischief. He posted $30,000 bond. Police seized the handgun from Jove, who doesn’t have a concealed weapons permit, according to the arrest affidavit.

Here’s a longer video, which opens with the AT&T worker saying a bleeped-out “Oooohhh shit”. This longer clip includes the bit where the worker tells the 911 operator that he’s got a co-worker who’s trapped in the “bucket” and can’t get down because Jove’s still shooting at the truck.

Here’s a follow-up story from local news, in which they report that Jove has no prior offenses on his record (but hey, you’ve gotta start somewhere):

You might think that shooting out a truck’s tires and engine may be the exact opposite of what to do when you want them to leave, and you’d be right. It turns out that Jove, while unhappy with their presence, didn’t want the trucks to leave until the cops arrived, which is why he shot them.

It’s all here in a follow-up article titled The man who shot at parked AT&T trucks told police he went ‘bananas’:

According to Jove’s report, Jove was upset “because the trucks were parked in front of his driveway, and he feared damage to his pavers.”

About an hour after “having words” with one of the workers, Jove came out with his .357 revolver and caused over $1,000 of damage to the trucks, an officer wrote in the report.

A Hialeah sergeant who responded to the shooting said he saw Jove fire at an AT&T worker in a raised bucket lift. After being told to put his weapon down, Jove dropped it on the swale, according to the report.

“After waiving his Miranda Rights the defendant furnished a statement stating he went ‘bananas’ and wanted to stop them from leaving,” the officer wrote in the report. “He shot at tires and truck to [get] the AT&T workers from leaving prior to police arrival.”

Thanks to Rob Schneider for the find!