A Florida man frustrated by utility workers wiring cables outside his home apparently took his anger out on their trucks.
Jorge Jove, 64, approached two AT&T workers on Wednesday after they parked their bucket trucks outside his home in Hialeah, police told Fox 13 News in Tampa. Jove allegedly demanded that the workers, who were servicing lines in the neighborhood, move their vehicles.
When the workers told Jove they had to complete their work before moving, police say he went inside his house and retrieved a handgun.
Cellphone video recorded by one of the AT&T workers shows a man, believed to be Jove, firing multiple bullets into the utility trucks while one of the workers is trapped inside an extended lift bucket.
“There’s a guy shooting the tires and shooting the engines and everything,” one of the workers said in a 911 call obtained by The Miami Herald. “Someone’s up in the bucket truck and he can’t come down.”
Jove, who reportedly reloaded the gun several times, did not injure either of the workers, police said.
“He just lost his mind for a moment,” Hialeah Police Detective Carl Zogby told NBC affiliate KXAS-TV. “We don’t know what the deal is with him … but this was totally uncalled for.”
Amy Viteri, a local reporter with ABC affiliate WPLG-TV in Miami, uploaded a video to her Twitter account showing police escorting Jove from his home.
After being taken into custody without incident, police charged Jove with two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and felony vandalism.
Jove, who reportedly spent 34 years with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue before he retired, was released on bond Wednesday. A court date has not yet been set.
David Lohr covers crime and missing persons. Tips? Feedback? Send an email or follow him on Twitter.
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