INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Deputies said a botched drug deal led a man to fire shots at a vehicle seen traveling from a Taco Bell parking lot at a high rate of speed late Wednesday.
Jonathon Dale Byrd
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Jonathon Byrd told deputies the vehicle driver snatched a bag of marijuana out of his hands and then drove off without paying him. Byrd said he chased the vehicle and fired rounds from a black semi-automatic pistol.
There were no reports of gunshot victims taken to hospitals, deputies said. The vehicle driver, along with a passenger, were never identified.
A description of the vehicle was not available.
Byrd, 22, described as homeless and from Brevard County, was charged with persons engaged in a criminal offense while having weapons and improper discharge of a firearm in public. Byrd was held Friday at the Indian River County Jail on $50,500 bond.
Indian River County deputies responded to the shooting about 6:30 p.m. in the Taco Bell parking lot in the 1000 block of U.S. 1, just south of 12th Street. Deputies found Byrd behind the restaurant and detained him.
Byrd’s girlfriend told deputies they traveled together to the Taco Bell earlier that day in a gray Jeep. Byrd planned to sell an ounce of marijuana for $180 to two men, reports show.
The woman said Byrd grabbed his gun, then got out of the Jeep to conduct the drug deal. Byrd was standing at the driver’s door of the other vehicle talking to the men when the vehicle took off, reports show.
The woman said she saw Byrd run after the vehicle around the corner of the building. Then, she heard several gunshots, reports show.
Crime scene detectives found several 9mm shell casings in the Taco Bell parking lot, deputies said.
Deputies recovered the gun, which Byrd said belonged to his father. Deputies noted the gun was not reported stolen.
Byrd was due in court at 8:45 a.m. Aug. 13, court records show.
