A Florida man claims he “went bananas” after he shot out the tires of AT&T workers’ trucks and has spurred outrage for bonding straight out of jail after the shooting.
Jorge Jove of Hialeah, Fla., was booked on multiple felony counts of aggravated assault with a firearm Wednesday, July 21, CBS Miami reported, after one of the AT&T workers taped him firing shots at two company trucks. Jove apparently became upset that they were parked on his driveway and didn’t leave quickly enough, and after police arrived, they said Jove fired at a worker in the truck’s bucket.
The 64-year-old retired firefighter told detectives “he went bananas and wanted to stop [the workers] from leaving,” according to a police report in which he confessed to firing up to 18 shots onto the trucks. A neighbor told a WPLG-TV reporter Jove is the “nicest man” and that he has complained about workers damaging his property in the past.
Jove bonded out of jail hours after his arrest Wednesday night without having to attend a hearing.
“It was a bondable offense,” Hialeah Police Department spokesman Sgt. Carl Zogby told CBS Miami. “It was our decision, our detective’s decision.”
If Jove is convicted of his felony charges, he faces up to 20 years in state jail.
In a statement to WPLG-TV reporter, AT&T said, “We’re grateful nobody was hurt, and we’re working with law enforcement in their investigation.”
Online, many sounded off on the matter, with several pointing out the racial implications of Jove’s circumstance.
Nice guy…discharging a gun in public; not normal–actions have consequences.
— Chella Torres (@ChellaTorres) July 20, 2017
Man hates truck outside house. Man reacts by making it impossible to move truck from his house. “Bananas” is understatement. #OnlyinHialeah
— Juan-Carlos Planas (@jcp717) July 20, 2017
An old white dude in Florida shoots out the tires of an AT&T truck and Twitter thinks it's funny. If an old black dude did it?
— Dillon Hawkins (@dillunhockens) July 21, 2017
Must be nice to never be even considered being called a thug…
— The28thAmendment (@dso72585) July 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/Datexas/status/887992136943243264
they’re always “the nicest”, “treated me with respect”, “never knew he could be capable” until they show their ass
— Viz of Bell County (@mrvizcarrondo) July 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/ikvasager/status/888174982852878336
