One of two men who shot each other’s daughters in a road rage incident has seen his charges dropped after prosecutors decided he acted in self-defense.
Frank Allison, 44, opened fire on William Hale, 36, after the two began swerving and brake-checking each other on a Florida highway last year. He shot at Hale’s car after the 36-year-old flung a water bottle into his car during the fight.
But authorities decided that his first shot was justifiable under Florida’s ‘stand your ground’ self-defense law, determining that Hale was at fault for the ensuing chaos.
Alisson fired a single shot into Hale’s car after the bottle was thrown, hitting Hale’s 5-year-old daughter in the leg. Hale responded by emptying his Glock semi-automatic handgun at Alisson’s vehicle, hitting his 14-year-old daughter in the back, causing her to suffer a collapsed lung.
Both men initially faced attempted murder charges after the incident, until Alisson’s charges were dropped earlier this month. Speaking at the time of the shooting, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said: ‘There could have been two dead kids because of two stupid grown men.’
William Hale, 35, from Douglas, Georgia (left) and Frank Allison, 43, from Callahan, Florida (right) shot each other’s daughters in a road rage incident
Prosecutors allege that the highway shooting erupted after Hale attempted to run Allison off the roam on Highway 1 near Callahan, Florida.
At one point during the skirmish, Hale pulled his Dodge Ram pickup truck alongside Allison’s Nissan Murano, rolling his window down and berating the driver while his wife gestured out the window.
Allison rolled down his window and shouted back in turn, before a water bottle was thrown into Hale’s truck, according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.
Both men accused the other of aggressive and erratic driving and ‘brake checking’ the other. A witness also alleged that Hale was the aggressor, claiming he tried to run his rival off the road.
The witness, who prosecutors said was ‘the only independent witness in the case’ after the stories told by the two men varied, told police he saw a ‘cat and mouse’ driving game between the two motorists.
Although he didn’t witness the shooting, he said he felt compelled to call 911 before shots were fired because ‘he knew something bad was going to happen’, according to Fox News.
Allison responded to the alleged provocation by firing a single shot at Hale’s vehicle, which struck his 5-year-old daughter in the upper calf.
The shooting led Hale to return fire, emptying his handgun’s magazine at Allison’s car. Both men had concealed carry permits and no prior criminal record.
Frank Allison, pictured right, has seen charges of attempted murder against him dropped after he shot another motorist’s daughter in a road rage incident
William Hale, pictured left, is due to be arraigned in court on April 20. He is facing several criminal charges, including three counts of attempted murder for the shooting
A chilling 911 call was made after the mother of one of the children that was shot desperately called for help.
‘My daughter’s been shot – please help me,’ she says, while her daughter can be heard weeping in the vehicle.
‘I don’t want to die,’ she said, according to News4Jax.
Both drivers continued heading north, with their injured daughters in the back.
But the pair were eventually stopped by a patrolling Nassau County Sheriff’s Office car, before arguing and fighting with each other by the side of the road.
Bodycam footage shows first responders rushing to help their daughters while the two men are separated, as they recounted differing versions of the incident.
The pair were initially booked into jail on attempted murder charges, but Allison has since seen the charges against him dropped.
In a statement released after the charges were dropped, the state’s attorney said: ‘William Hale’s aggressive driving pattern and the throwing of a water bottle placed the Allisons in fear of imminent death or great bodily harm and constitute the commission of forcible felonies.
‘William Hale’s actions — both independently and collectively — justify Frank Allison’s use of deadly force against William Hale. As such, the State declines to file charges against Frank Allison and elects to file charges against William Hale.’
Hale is due to be arraigned in court on April 20. He is charged with three counts of attempted murder for the shooting, three counts of aggravated assault, and one of ‘shooting or throwing deadly missiles’ for launching the water bottle.
FLORIDA’S STAND YOUR GROUND LAW
Travyon Martin, 17, was shot dead in 2012
In 2005, Florida enacted its law whereby it is legal for a person to exert deadly force if;
I) the person reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself, or another, or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony; or
II) the person acts under a reasonable belief as to the necessity of force
In most cases, self-defense only works as a criminal defense if a person has tried to get themselves out of danger and failed to first. It is known as a ‘duty to retreat.’
Stand Your Ground states differ because they do not impose a duty to retreat.
George Zimmerman, who shot the teenager, was acquitted after using a Stand Your Ground defense
In Florida, the law not only protects a person from criminal prosecution but also from civil proceedings.
It is one of the strongest among the 25 states which have Stand Your Ground laws.
Most of them are in the South and 10 actually include the phrase ‘stand your ground’ in the legislation.
It sparked fury in 2012 in Florida when a jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the death of teenager Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in the town of Sanford, followed Martin, who he said was behaving ‘suspiciously’, as he walked to a 7-Eleven to get a snack.
They got into an altercation afterwards and Zimmerman shot him in the chest.
The teenager was unarmed and died three minutes later. But Zimmerman said he feared for his life and a jury believed him.
