NASSAU COUNTY, FLORIDA, Fla. — No charges have yet been filed against two fathers arrested in an October road rage incident in which two children were shot.
William Hale, 36, of Douglasville, Ga., and Frank Allison, 44, of Callahan, Fl., were both arrested on charges of attempted murder on Oct. 9 after exchanging gunfire on U.S. 1 in Nassau County. A child in each man’s vehicle was injured. A 5-year-old girl was struck in the calf, fracturing two bones. A 14-year-old girl was shot in the back and suffered a collapsed lung.
Both men were arrested on charges of attempted second degree murder, but neither has been arraigned and no formal charges have been filed. Court records show no activity in the case since Oct. 25. According to a spokesperson for the State Attorney’s Office, “potential charges are still under review.”
A witness to the incident told deputies the incident played out “like a game of cat and mouse.”
According to Nassau County Sheriff's Office reports, the men began "brake checking" each other repeatedly. Allison, who was driving a Nissan sedan, told deputies his wife "flicked off" the Dodge Ram truck Hale was driving. At that point, Allison said someone in the truck threw a water bottle into his car's open window. Allison told deputies he then fired his gun at the truck in an effort to get away.
“Mr. Allison said his goal of firing the shot was to ‘get out of the whole situation,’” the report states. Instead, it hit Hale's 5-year-old daughter in the upper calf.
When Hale heard a “pow” hit his truck, he told deputies, he grabbed a gun he kept in his center console and fired “everything that was in the clip." His shots struck Allison’s 14-year-old daughter.
People in both vehicles called 911 to report the incident. In one 911 call, a child's mother begins by saying “Please help me!” In the background, a girl screams, “I don’t want to die.”
The call also captures the sound of the two men confronting each other after both stopped to report the incident to an officer on the highway. “You’re a piece of s***,” one can be heard screaming.
Allison's attorney declined comment. Hale's attorney said they were grateful to the State Attorney's Office for conducting a thorough investigation and remain hopeful that in the end, Hale won't face "any charges."
At a news conference following the incident, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said, "Sometimes we see people acting stupid and doing dumb things out on the highway. They sometimes let their emotions get the best of them, and they don’t really think about the consequences of their actions or what could happen as the results of their stupidity.”
Both men were released after their arrest on $150,000 bond each.