Sheriff: Driver followed Black man, threatened to kill family over road rage incident
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - A Deltona man is facing an assault charge with a hate crime enhancement after deputies say he followed another man home after a road rage incident and threatened to kill him and his family while calling them racial slurs.
Volusia County deputies said they identified Nicholas J. Gordon, 21, using security nearby cameras during the alleged incident that is said to have happened on Sunday.
"This type of behavior will not be tolerated in Volusia County," Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Tuesday. "I want everyone to know this Sheriff’s Office will do everything possible to track down and arrest anyone who commits such an abhorrent act of hate in this community."
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The victims said they were on Spring Garden Ave. when a 4-door yellow hatchback carrying 4 people pulled up next to them, and a passenger pulled out a handgun, stating: "I will kill you (N-words)."
"The victims drove away from the intersection trying to get to safety, but the suspect vehicle chased after them, and caught up with the family again when they got stopped in traffic at the intersection of International Speedway Boulevard. The victims told deputies the driver stepped out of the car and yelled more obscenities at them before getting back in, turning around and fleeing northbound."
The family said they had no interaction with the suspect before this incident.
Detectives took over the case and began working to identify the suspect vehicle, which they soon found on video surveillance footage from a business on 15A between Glenwood Rd. and International Speedway Blvd. On the video, they saw the victims’ vehicle heading south on 15A, with the yellow suspect vehicle, a yellow Chevrolet Spark, following close behind. About 2 minutes later, the video showed the suspect vehicle speeding northbound up 15A.
A deputy conducted a traffic stop after spotting the suspect vehicle speeding, identified Gordon, and had him step out of the vehicle.
In a body cam video, Gordon initially said he didn't have any weapons in the vehicle but later admitted he had a gun in his lunchbox, deputies said.
"I think I know what it is. It was that black lady that brake-checked me, and then she started trying to follow me…" Gordon said.
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Deputies say they showed Gordon security video that showed his car and that Gordon admitted that he was a passenger.
"He said the incident stemmed from the victim vehicle backing into his car and fleeing, and said that he and his friends gave chase to try and exchange information. However, detectives examined Gordon’s car and found no visible damage."
When asked by Gordon armed himself during the incident, he reportedly told deputies, "he knew (the victims) were African American and he knew from past experiences African Americans can be violent."
"At the conclusion of the investigation, all evidence indicated this incident was clearly just a violent hate crime where the suspect pointed a firearm directly at the victims, a family in their car with children, who were solely targeted for being African American," detectives wrote in closing.
Gordon was charged with 2 counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, child abuse, and carrying a concealed firearm after it was discovered he didn’t possess a valid concealed weapons permit.
"Because the case is classified as a hate crime, the charges are enhanced," the sheriff's office said.
Gordon was being held without bond at the Volusia County Branch Jail.
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