MARION COUNTY, Fla. – A semitruck driver traveling through Marion County on Sunday was shot at on Interstate 75 by another trucker who has since been arrested, according to the sheriff’s office.
Dylan Belleastin, 43, (pictured below) faces charges of throwing a missile into a vehicle, criminal mischief of $1,000 or more, aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and the use or display of a firearm during the commission of a felony, booking records show.
The victim was driving a semitrailer south on I-75 when Belleastin allegedly pulled alongside him and threw a water bottle at his vehicle, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Belleastin followed the victim as both drivers pulled over, the sheriff’s office said. The victim’s intention was to confront Belleastin, but he decided against it and pulled back onto the road with the soon-to-be shooting suspect still behind him, the statement reads.
Citing the victim’s testimony and dash camera video from inside of Belleastin’s cab, investigators said Belleastin pulled alongside the victim’s truck and fired several shots at him, at one point raising a second gun that was not fired. The victim rapidly decelerated, as did Belleastin, before the victim then returned fire out of fear for their life, according to the sheriff’s office.
Belleastin and the victim then drove to the Love’s Travel Stop at 7791 NW 47th Avenue. The suspect left after a short time to continue south on I-75 as deputies soon made contact with the victim, the statement reads.
Belleastin was located Wednesday in Ocala by Marion County deputies working in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Service, the sheriff’s office said. He is being held without bond at the Marion County Jail.
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