Broward County, FL – 8 February 2019 – The 57-year-old man accused of shooting at two men repossessing his Mercedes Benz’s lawyer says the recovery agents broke through his gate and were attempting to repossess the wrong car.
At Juan A. Barquero’s first court appearance Saturday, Broward Judge Jennifer Hilal told his defense attorney what was at stake.
“This is a punishable by life [in prison] crime,” she said.
Barquero’s attorney told the judge the black 2010 Mercedes E350 was not supposed to be repossessed.
Barquero’s home, in the 6100 block of Southwest 190th Avenue in Southwest Ranches, is surrounded by a fence with a gate.
His lawyer said Barquero had no reason to believe the two men were repossessing the car when they broke through the gate and hooked up the Mercedes about 1 a.m. Thursday. According to the Davie police report, Barquero was armed with a handgun when he and another man went outside to confront the men and ordered them to return the car.
With their hands in the air and saying they wanted no trouble, the men identified themselves as employees of Gryphon Recovery (Prestige Auto Towing), showed their credentials and said they had orders from a bank to repossess the car, investigators said.
Barquero said, “he did not care and, again, ordered the victims at gunpoint to lower his car,” the report stated.
Barquero fired seven shots at the tow truck as it drove away, police said.
One shot hit the Mercedes and six other shots shattered the tow truck’s rear window, investigators said.
The two men in the tow truck were not wounded. They pulled over in the 6300 block of Southwest 188th Avenue and called 911, police said.
Later Thursday, police conducted a traffic stop on Sheridan Street near Interstate 75 and arrested Barquero driving a white Mercedes. He was carrying a concealed weapons permit but no guns were found in the car, investigators said.
Later Thursday, police
conducted a traffic stop on Sheridan Street near Interstate 75 and arrested
Barquero driving a white Mercedes. He was carrying a concealed weapons permit
but no guns were found in the car, investigators said.
Police found several firearms and accessories in his home and
seven 9mm bullet casings outside but no 9mm handgun was found, detectives said.
Barquero’s attorney told the judge this was all a
misunderstanding but she disagreed.
“The allegations are that as
the tow truck is driving away he shot seven rounds into the tow truck, one of
them hitting the driver’s side headrest,” Hilal said. “I find probable cause
exists for the charges [and] I’m going to be holding him, no bond.”
Barqeuro is charged with attempted felony murder, aggravated
assault, and firing a weapon into an occupied vehicle, records show.
Source: Sun Sentinel
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