The Associated Press
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (AP) -- A rookie sheriff’s deputy was fired for allegedly firing his gun at another driver in what investigators believe was an example of road rage.
Charles Patric Afriat, 32, was charged with aggravated assault and shooting into an occupied vehicle, both felonies.
Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent fired Afriat, who was two weeks short of his first anniversary with the department, hours after his arrest Saturday.
Afriat said he fired his department-issued .40-caliber Glock handgun in self-defense, a claim the other driver, Leonard Umhoefer, disputed in his interview with investigators, officials said.
Umhoefer, 46, called police after a shot was fired into his passenger-side door. He gave New Port Richey police the license plate number of the other car, which was traced to Afriat.
The deputy initially denied being involved in the shooting.
“The only thing I can tell you is that I wasn’t the aggressor in this,” Afriat said Sunday.
Afriat was released from Land O’ Lakes Jail on $15,000 bail Saturday. Information on when he would next appear in court was not immediately available early Monday.