Police seek roadside shooter

The driver was shot possibly after an angry exchange, and the man drove away with two passengers, witnesses say.

By KATHRYN WEXLER and THOMAS C. TOBIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 3, 2000

TAMPA -- Fernando Malagon spent the last night of his life at a St. Petersburg karate school, his home away from home.

The martial arts black belt from Largo helped instruct a kickboxing class and changed into shorts and a white T-shirt. It was 7:30 p.m. and Malagon was in good spirits when he hugged the school's owner, Amir Ardebily, goodbye. He didn't mention where he was headed.

"He was in a fantastic mood," said Ardebily.

About two hours later, Malagon, 37, was dead. He had been shot in Tampa, possibly the victim of a drastic case of road rage.

Investigators were trying Wednesday to identify the shooter and asked witnesses to come forward. Police said they had no reason to believe Malagon knew his assailant, but hadn't ruled that out.

"You can understand how people get agitated, but it should never get to the level that it did last night," said Tampa police Capt. John Garcia.

Witnesses told police that Malagon's 1996 gray Volvo and a red compact car were zipping down Memorial Highway from as far north as Hillsborough Avenue. The drivers exchanged hostile words and gestures through open windows. Other motorists estimated their speeds at more than 100 mph.

The cars raced down the highway for at least 5 miles.

Finally, just past Tampa International Airport, the Volvo stopped on the off-ramp leading to southbound Interstate 275 and Pinellas County.

The red car stopped yards away, on the edge of Memorial Highway. Its driver got out with a high-caliber pistol and headed across a spit of grass toward the Volvo, witnesses told police.

He fired one slug through the closed, rear passenger window, hitting Malagon from behind as he sat at the wheel. The shooter then turned and walked back to the red car and drove off with the two passengers who had waited inside.

Fernando Malagon died on the spot.

The shooter's car was described as a newer model vehicle with tinted windows, a hatchback or spoiler and low-profile tires with spoke rims. Two passengers waited inside and they all drove off, observers told police.

One of Fernando Malagon's brothers, Edward, said Wednesday that Fernando wasn't the sort of person to "go looking for trouble." But Malagon's accomplishments in tae kwan do and kung fu meant he wasn't afraid to fight, Edward said.

"I don't think he would be the kind to back down in adversity," said Edward Malagon, 45, of Panama City. "If you have those abilities then you're not going to take anything from anybody."

Fernando Malagon had no criminal history, but had received five driving citations, including two for speeding, most recently in February. In 1992, he had an accident and was cited for driving too fast for conditions.

Carl Carbaugh, a friend of Malagon's for 10 years, said Malagon "was an impatient driver, he tended to drive fairly fast yet he wasn't prone to aggressing anyone on the road."

But Carbaugh, a Seminole resident and Taco Bell manager, recalled that Malagon told him several years ago he was involved in a road rage incident.

"Someone thought he had wronged him, yelled, and pulled over behind him," Carbaugh said. "They exchanged some words . . . but (Malagon's) reaction was simply to try to get away for fear that he had a gun."

Police said they didn't yet know why Malagon went to Tampa in the hours before his death.

Malagon was born in Puerto Rico in 1963, attended high school in Spain and later joined the U.S. Air Force, Edward Malagon said. He settled in Florida in the early 1980s.

In 1984, he was married to Sherry Jane Gillespie of St. Petersburg, now a public affairs specialist with Pinellas County government. The two were divorced last year, according to county records.

Malagon had recently started a job at Verizon Directories Corp. (formerly GTE) in St. Petersburg, Carbaugh said. He lived with two cats at 214 Cordova Greens, in the same Bardmoor condominium complex as his mother and sister.

He spoke four languages fluently, loved jazz and wore expensive dress shoes from Spain, friends said.

"He was just a very up-front, no-nonsense, loving guy," said another brother, Victor Malagon, 47, of Miami.

Police were asking witnesses to come forward Wednesday to help identify the shooting suspect, described as a white man in his early 20s with short brown hair, between 5-feet-10 and 6-feet-1, 190 pounds, and wearing blue pants and a light blue or white shirt.

Witnesses are asked to call the Tampa Police Department at (813) 273-0770.

- Staff writer Kathryn Wexler can be reached at (813) 226-3386 or wexler@sptimes.com.

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