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Pasco family shot at during trip along I-4
By WILL VASH POLK CITY -- A driver angered because he couldn't pass on Interstate 4 fired three shots into a car Saturday night on an off-ramp near Polk City, an act of road rage that could have been deadly for a Zephyrhills couple and their 3-year-old daughter, authorities said. But the family wasn't injured and they followed the gunman on a high-speed chase and relayed his whereabouts to police on a cell phone, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol said. The bizarre skirmish ended when authorities pulled over a sport utility vehicle about 3 miles south of the interstate north of Auburndale. The driver was charged with three counts of attempted murder. Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Larry Coggins said Sean Gaskin, 30, Sherry Gaskin, 36, and their daughter, Dawn, were heading east on the interstate about 6:35 p.m. in their red Pontiac Grand Am. They were going to Lake Wales to pick up Sean's son. The Pontiac was in the left lane and a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder pulled up behind. "He came out of nowhere and he flashed his lights, but we couldn't get over" because traffic was too heavy, Sean Gaskin said. Coggins said the driver of the Pathfinder was able to pull up alongside the Grand Am and he yelled at the family and made obscene gestures. Sean Gaskin pulled off the interstate at County Road 557. He said he thought the worst was behind him. But the Pathfinder pulled off the interstate, too, and came alongside the Grand Am at the exit ramp at County Road 557. The Gaskins were waiting at a stop sign to pull onto County Road 557 when they heard the first pop. Two more quickly followed. We didn't realize he had a gun until we heard the first shot," Sean Gaskin said. "He was so nonchalant about the way he did it. It was as if he had done this before." Troopers who examined the family's car said it was hit by bullets, but they hadn't completed their investigation late Saturday. The Pathfinder sped away and turned back onto the westbound lanes of I-4. Sean Gaskin made a fateful decision. He followed the Pathfinder. "I was mad. He wasn't getting away with it," Gaskin said. As they followed the Pathfinder, which was weaving through traffic, the Gaskins described the shooting and chase to a 911 dispatcher. The Gaskins followed the speeding SUV as it went in and out of a rest stop, exited onto the Polk Parkway, blew past toll collection stations and drove south. About 2 miles later, the Pathfinder drove through the median, reversed course and headed back north on the Parkway toward I-4. The Gaskins followed them at every turn. "I was screaming all the way," Sherry Gaskin said. Highway Patrol troopers, who had been alerted to the wild chase were massing in the area. They spotted a Pathfinder and began a pursuit. The Gaskins followed. The SUV exited I-4 onto CR 559 and sped south. Troopers saw a gun thrown from the vehicle shortly before the Pathfinder pulled over about 3 miles south of I-4, Coggins said. The patrol arrested the driver, Daniel Meade, 23, of Riverview and the passenger, Stephanie Mungin, 22, also of Riverview, without incident, Coggins said. Meade denied he fired any shots at the Gaskins' car, officials said. But after interviewing the Gaskins, troopers charged Meade with three counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle and three counts of attempted murder. Mungin was charged with being an accessory in the first degree and with tampering with evidence, Coggins said. The Gaskins, who looked shellshocked as they waited to talk with troopers, said they were just glad to be alive. Sean Gaskin pointed out two bullet holes in his car, one in the lower part of the front passenger door and the other in the lower rear passenger door. "If my baby was sitting 5 inches the other way, he probably would have hit her," Sherry Gaskin said. "I'm never coming down here with Sean again. I'll stay at home with my baby." Coggins said everything turned out okay this time, but added that motorists should never get involved with aggressive drivers. "When passed by an aggressive driver, let him go on, don't get involved and call authorities," Coggins said. "Anger can get the best of people and situations turn deadly. Tonight, the odds worked in our favor."
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From today's Pasco Times Letters |
