A Florida woman shot at a truck while her 4 kids were in her car, police say
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A Florida Panhandle woman was accused of shooting at a truck — injuring a passenger — while her four children were in the car she was driving.
Ciara Ryan Cole-Croteau, 32, was arrested Monday on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm from a vehicle, and child neglect in connection with the New Year’s Day incident.
According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Cole-Croteau, who was driving a white 2009 Nissan sedan, shot at a 2006 GMC Sierra, leaving a victim with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the upper left arm.
The Nissan sedan, deputies said, tried to run the truck off the road. Then, Cole-Croteau fired a single shot into the truck.
The truck continued to flee, with Cole-Croteau tailing them — and then the truck’s two passengers exited the truck and then called 911, deputies said. Minutes later, Cole-Corteau, too, called 911 and reported that someone in a white truck was shooting people near her father’s home.
Deputies found Cole-Corteau and said that her four children, all under the age of 18, were in the car with her.
After searching the sedan, deputies found a used 40 caliber shell casing, according to the arrest report. They later located the firearm, a black 40 caliber Taurus pistol, which matched the casing. The gun was turned over to police by a relative of Cole-Corteau.
Cole-Corteau told deputies that she shot at the victim to “scare him away” because she said he was a drug dealer and she “hates drugs and drug dealers,” according to the arrest report.
Cole-Corteau is being held at the Walton County Jail and her bond set at $50,000.
