Charges made in road-rage shooting
19-year-old Winter Park man booked on four infractions
A Winter Park man was arrested Wednesday after Orlando police say he shot a driver during a road-rage incident off Semoran Boulevard and, in a separate incident, pointed a gun’s laser at a jogger near Grant Street.
Traviance Polite Jr., 19, was booked into the Orange County Jail on charges of attempted second-degree murder, shooting from a vehicle, possession of a firearm by a convicted delinquent and reckless display of a firearm.
The Orange-Osceola public defender’s office, which is representing Polite, declined to comment.
Polite was driving with his girlfriend in a blue Kia on South Semoran Boulevard near Curry Ford Road on Tuesday when they started arguing, Det. Phillip McMican said at a Friday news conference.
A man and his girlfriend in a black Honda who were stopped next to them at a red light started laughing at the couple’s fight, according to an arrest affidavit.
The detective said Polite shot twice at the Honda, hitting the man once in his stomach. As he fled, Polite rear-ended another car with his vehicle and kept driving, McMican said.
The victim ran into a nearby business, where employees put pressure on his gunshot wounds. He is still in the hospital, McMican said.
“The victim ended up losing a good portion of his stomach and intestines as a result of the injuries and will never be the same,” he said.
When detectives from OPD’s Violent Crimes Unit found Polite’s car and apartment on Cape Dory Court near Baldwin Park, they discovered the agency’s Gang Unit was there too, investigating Polite on a separate incident.
Det. Michael Glatthorn said he was investigating an Instagram video where a driver, who was later identified as Polite, was holding a firearm with an attached laser outside his car window while traveling near the 5800 block of East Grant Street.
Glatthorn said Polite pointed the laser at a man jogging on the opposite side of the street.
“I’ll pop your ass, [expletive],” Polite said in
the video, according to an arrest affidavit. “Say I won’t stink your ass, [expletive] .”
The detective said there were other videos on Polite’s social media where he was seen using the same gun with the laser.
“It took a while to find the runner,” Glatthorn said. “He thought it was just some kids playing around with a laser pointer. So when I told him and I actually showed him the video, he was shocked — he could not believe it.”
OPD highlighted the cooperation between its units and other agencies in the case.
“There was excellent communication between multiple agencies in this incident,” Sgt. Michael Massicotte said. “With the cooperation of all of these agencies and the fine work of both detectives ... they produced a fantastic case.”