A tailgating tantrum escalated into gunfire Tuesday morning after a Welch’s juice box met windshield, prompting a convicted felon to open fire near a busy stretch of South US Hwy 441.
Deputies say 33-year-old Jose Torres followed a couple too closely in a white Toyota Camry, brake-checked them, brandished a black handgun, and ultimately discharged it multiple times near the entrance to Family Pool and Spa and Marie’s Mobile Home Park — all before parking at Lot 24 and trying to make the weapon disappear.
The chaos began when Jesse Davis and his passenger, Lilliam Sanchez, were being tailgated by Torres, who then waved his gun at them while stopped at SE 52nd Street. Sanchez, not one to flinch, retaliated by hurling her juice box at Torres’ car, splashing the Camry in grape-flavored defiance. Minutes later, Torres allegedly fired five rounds from his vehicle, prompting the victims to make a U-turn and wait for deputies near the park entrance.
When law enforcement arrived, they found shell casings on the ground and juice residue on the Toyota. Torres first claimed he tossed the gun in the woods, then changed his story, admitting it belonged to his fiancée. The weapon — a SIG G3c 9mm with matching ammo — was recovered inside their shared mobile home.
Torres, a convicted felon with previous charges including grand theft and aggravated battery, now faces two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a felon, and discharging a weapon from a vehicle.
He was transported to the Marion County Jail, proving once again: if you’re going to commit road rage, maybe don’t do it in a car registered to your house — or under grape juice surveillance.
