PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – A man was ordered by a judge to be held without bond in the Putnam County jail on multiple felony charges after investigators said he tried to run over another man with his truck.
John Stoeffler Jr., 51, of Putnam County, is facing charges that include two counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.
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According to an arrest report obtained by News4Jax, Putnam County deputies were called Sunday to Stokes Landing Road in reference to a disturbance involving Stoeffler.
Stoeffler is accused of trying to run over a man with his truck, according to the alleged victim and two eyewitnesses.
All three told deputies that it started when Stoeffler drove up to the victim’s home. At one point, the two witnesses walked up to Stoeffler’s truck to see what he wanted when they said he drove away before turning his truck around at a nearby intersection so that the truck was facing the victim’s home. The arrest report stated that the victim and one of the witnesses began to walk toward the truck to see what was going on when Stoeffler hit the gas pedal and rapidly accelerated toward the victim. The report went on to say that the victim jumped out of the way to avoid being run over by Stoeffler who then left the area.
As the deputy finished his interview with the victim and witnesses and was about to leave the victim’s home, he said he heard gunfire off in the distance. Shortly after hearing the gunfire, the deputy was contacted by 911 dispatchers about an anonymous caller who was receiving distress signals from her neighbor. According to the arrest report, the neighbor who was sending out the distress signals was one of Stoeffler’s relatives who lives with him.
Deputies went to Stoeffler’s home where, after a brief standoff, he surrendered himself.
During the investigations at Stoeffler’s house, according to the Sheriff’s Office, deputies learned that Stoeffler fired three of four rounds of bullets from a gun that belonged to a relative who lives with Stoeffler.
The separate incident involving Stoeffler and the man who claimed Stoeffler tried to run him over revealed the two had previous run-ins with each other. The victim in that case told deputies that he has had previous confrontations with Stoeffler. He described one previous confrontation in which he said Stoeffler showed up at his home with his truck and started doing burnouts in the driveway.