Nearly a month after a deputy-involved shooting in Palm Bay, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has released the 911 calls in the road-rage case.
One of those calls was made by Brevard County Sheriff's deputy Yousef Hafza, who's been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Clarence Howard and the attempted murder of Jose Montanez.
Hafza is in custody and on unpaid leave after the Father's Day shooting in Palm Bay that left Howard, 25, dead.
Howard was with his fiancé's brother when investigators said they were involved in a road rage incident with the off-duty deputy.
On Wednesday, FDLE released Hafza's redacted 911 call, along with two others.
“Hey, listen, I got (inaudible). I had two guys chasing me in a car. They jumped out and came at me. I just shot one of them. He's at Heritage and Emerson,” Hafza told the dispatcher. “The guy is down on the ground. I'm driving back to my house right now.”
Later, Hafza said he was on Emerson Drive when a man pulled out and didn't see his car coming. He said he saw the driver throw up his arms, but Hafza kept driving. He claims the other driver came after him.
“Then, when he got to Heritage (and) Emerson he started jumping out of the car, and he's like, ‘What now [expletive]?, what now?’” Hafza told the dispatcher. “He kept coming after me, and two guys jumped out the car and ran at me. So, I jumped out of the vehicle and started firing shots at them.”
Howard was critically wounded by a single bullet under his right arm.
FDLE didn't release the call made by Montanez, the survivor of that confrontation with Hafza.
Montanez told investigators he was following the off-duty deputy to determine why he was traveling at a high rate of speed and nearly hit his vehicle.
He claims there was never a pursuit or attempt to pass Hafza.
The State Attorney's Office has yet to make a filing decision in the case.
Hafza is currently in the Seminole County Jail being held without bond.
Raw: Deputy's 911 call after shooting man in road-rage incident
Investigators released the 911 call of a deputy who is accused of shooting and killing a man in a road-rage incident.
Cox Media Group
