MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A 43-year-old Virginia truck driver was arrested Wednesday after he shot at another truck driver in a fit of road rage on Interstate 75 near Ocala, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said.
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Deputies said they were called Sunday to Love’s Travel Stop on Northwest 47th Avenue after a truck driver said he was driving a tractor-trailer southbound on I-75 when Dylan Nissan Belleastin threw a water bottle at his vehicle.
“The victim pulled over to confront Belleastin but decided against it and drove away,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Zach Moore said in a news release. “Belleastin then continued to follow the victim and eventually pulled alongside him again, at which time he fired several shots toward the victim.”
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Moore said the victim then rapidly decelerated the tractor-trailer he was driving to try to avoid being struck by gunfire and returned fire toward Belleastin because he feared for his life.
Investigators said Belleastin also drove to the Love’s Travel Stop but then drove away and continued southbound on I-75.
Deputies said they obtained information that was used to identify Belleastin, and they also received dash camera footage from his cab.
“The footage clearly depicted him shooting at the victim at two separate times,” Moore said. “Belleastin also retrieved a second handgun and pointed it at the victim without firing.”
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Deputies along with agents from the United States Marshal Service arrested Belleastin at a warehouse on Southwest 52nd Avenue near Ocala.
He was booked into the Marion County Jail on the following charges: shooting a missile into a vehicle, aggravated assault, criminal mischief and displaying a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Belleastin remains jailed without bail.
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