Two Florida firefighters approached a vehicle Thursday to check on a driver after an injury crash. Instead of a routine medical assessment, deputies say they found themselves facing a handgun.
The encounter unfolded at County Line Road and the Suncoast Parkway, where Hernando County Fire Rescue personnel were already helping people involved in the Sept. 17 crash.
As two firefighters approached one of the vehicles, its driver produced a handgun and pointed it at them, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office. A traffic deputy saw the firefighters running from the vehicle and heard them yell that the driver had pointed a gun at them.
What the firefighters later described made the encounter even more alarming: They said the driver initially put the handgun down when they told him to, then picked it back up, chambered a round, and pointed it at both of them.
A Second Reach
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The firefighters immediately retreated. The deputy approached the vehicle and ordered the driver out, and he complied without further incident.
Deputies recovered a handgun and ammunition from the vehicle.
The encounter then shifted to figuring out who the driver was. The sheriff’s office said he supplied deputies with multiple false names and dates of birth before they identified him as 40-year-old Daniel Thomas Hall Jr.
Another Problem
A criminal-history check showed Hall had a 2003 felony burglary conviction in Pasco County and had not had his firearm rights restored, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies also determined Hall was at fault for the crash that brought firefighters to the scene in the first place.
Hall was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault on a firefighter or paramedic, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, and providing a false name to law enforcement. The new charges are accusations, and Hall is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
No firefighters, deputies, or the driver were injured during the encounter. The sheriff’s office said Hall was taken to the Hernando County Detention Center, where he was being held without bond.