Two Florida dads are facing legal troubles after their erratic driving nearly led to a tragic ending.
William Joseph Hale, 35, of Douglas, GA, and Frank Gilliard Alison, of Callahan, FL, were both charged with attempted murder after a vehicular game of “cat and mouse” on US 1 in Callahan, FL (about 26 miles north of Jacksonville, FL) escalated into a dangerous case of road rage.
Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper reported to the press that his department began to receive phone calls from other drivers on US 1 stating that a Dodge Ram truck (Hale) and a Nissan Murano SUV (Alison) were engaged in aggressive high-speed games, including brake-checking (slamming on the brakes suddenly while in front of another motor vehicle).
Hale, at one point, pulled alongside Alison in the Nissan, rolled down his passenger side window, and motioned Alison to pull over to the side of the road. In response, an occupant of Alison’s car stuck their arm out the window of the Nissan and flipped Hale off. According to Leeper, Alison began to scream at Hale, prompting an occupant of Hale’s truck to throw a water bottle into the Nissan. The water bottle did not hurt anyone in Alison’s vehicle.
Alison responded by retrieving his semi-automatic handgun, a Sig Sauer .45-caliber handgun, and firing a shot into Hale’s truck which struck Hale’s five-year-old daughter in the leg. Alison’s SUV sped off, but Hale eventually caught up, and he retaliated by firing multiple shots (reported to be 8 or 9 rounds) from his Glock 9mm handgun into the SUV. Three of the bullets hit the SUV, and one of the shots hit Alison’s 14-year-old daughter in the back, causing her lung to collapse.
The two vehicles continued north on US1 until they came upon a Nassau County Sheriff’s Office patrol car. Hale and Alison stopped, got out of their vehicles, and engaged in a fistfight, soon broken up by the officer.
Both children were transported to nearby hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Sheriff Leeper closed his press conference by stating, “There could have been two dead children because of two stupid grown men.”
Hale and Alison were taken into custody and charged with attempted murder. Both were able to post bail and were released.
