ORLANDO, Fla. – A man was arrested on allegations of firing a weapon outside his vehicle on New Year's Day on the Florida Turnpike, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
According to a report from WKMG, Elvis Antonio Artola, 30, was seen hanging out the passenger side of a friend's vehicle and shooting a rifle on the turnpike near the Osceola Parkway, troopers said.
When a trooper pulled the man and a passenger over and asked him what happened, Artola told troopers that he didn't know. Artola said that there was a weapon in the car, the FHP said.
Troopers said that Artola did not cooperate when they asked him to put his hands behind his back and they had to force him into the patrol car.
The driver of the car told troopers that he pulled over so Artola could use the bathroom, the FHP said. Artola stepped out of the car with the rifle and shot into the woods several times, the FHP said.
The driver told FHP that he was not sure if Artola was trying to shoot cows or was just shooting into the open woods, officials said.
The driver told the trooper that he did not want to "snitch on his friend," the arrest report said.
Artola faces charges of carrying a weapon openly, use/display of a weapon during a felony, improperly exhibiting a firearm or dangerous weapon, use of firearm under the influence of alcohol, and discharge of a machine gun with harm or property damage.