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Is It Illegal to Shoot Out the Tires of Service Trucks on Your Street?

By Christopher Coble, Esq. on July 26, 2017 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

If I told you a man was captured on cell phone video circling two AT&T service trucks and calmly firing round after round from a revolver into the trucks' tires, then asked you to name the state, I doubt you'd need all 50 guesses before you got to Florida.

Retired Miami-Dade firefighter Jorge Jove wasn't too pleased about the trucks being parked near his house. To be fair, who among us is? But most of us don't walk back into the house, emerge with a hand cannon, and open fire. The 64-year-old proved himself to be a crack shot, up close at least, and earned some criminal charges for his trouble.

Shots Fired

"There's a guy shooting out my tires. There's a guy shooting out my tires," AT&T utility employee Derrick Taylor is heard on the video, explaining to 911 what Jove was doing. And if you're not amazed yet, here's the video:

In all, Jove fired 18 rounds at the trucks, and possibly at one of the men, Gilberto Ramos, who was up in the air working on a telephone pole at the time of the shooting.

Get off My Driveway

According to Jove's neighbor, this wasn't the first time he had been annoyed by AT&T's presence on his block. "They had a discussion because he didn't want them in front of the driveway," Luisa Morales told ABC7 Miami. "It has happened before, and they had to repair it, and he asked them to remove the truck out of the driveway."

Regardless of the prior run-ins, Jove was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a third degree felony which, if he is convicted, could get him five years in prison, five years probation, and a $5,000 fine.

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