PORT ST. LUCIE — A man accused of shooting a pickup truck on Interstate 95 — killing a German shepherd puppy inside — faces a felony charge in a case that remains under investigation, according to a police spokesman and a report obtained Thursday.

Andy Phillips, 22, is accused of firing two shots around 1:45 a.m. Tuesday at a Toyota Tundra pickup with two people and the puppy inside as it headed south on I-95 near Southwest Becker Road.

The victims, Laritza Y. Fontela, 19, and 20-year-old Yosdany Rodriguez, are from Miami, and Fontela said they were in Port St. Lucie visiting relatives. The assailants reportedly continued south in a Toyota 4Runner after the shooting.

Fontela and Rodriguez flagged down an officer who was in the rear parking lot of a business in the 1700 block of Southwest Gatlin Boulevard.

Police found two bullet holes in the victims’ Tundra. Rodriguez’s puppy, named Jo Jo, had a gunshot wound to the head and was dead on the rear floorboard.

Fontela reported seeing a driver and at least one other man in the 4Runner. Rodriguez photographed the 4Runner’s tag with his cell phone while Fontela wrote it on the dashboard with lipstick.

Officer Tom Nichols, police spokesman, said the tag was registered in Hialeah, and police there stopped the 4Runner about two hours later, taking Phillips and three other occupants into custody.

The three occupants were released.

Nichols said the victims might have been familiar with one of the suspects, but he declined to elaborate, noting the case remains under investigation. He also declined to discuss a possible motive in the shooting.

Fontela said she and Rodriguez were visiting relatives in Port St. Lucie and had stopped at a Walmart SuperCenter on Southwest Gatlin Boulevard on their way back to Miami.

The report gave this account:

They left Walmart about 1:45 a.m. and saw the 4Runner behind them. The 4Runner kept to their rear as they entered I-95 from Southwest Gatlin Boulevard.

The vehicle stayed behind Fontela as she changed lanes. Fontela said she saw a handgun pointed at her through the 4Runner front passenger window.

She heard two shots. One she suspected hit the rear passenger door. The second struck the driver’s door.

Rodriguez and Fontela could not be reached Thursday.

Will Greenlee, TCPalm.com

Tags: felony, gunshot, handgun, Interstate 95, investigation, Miami, pickup, puppy, shooting

This entry was posted on Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 10:11 am and is filed under Crime, Port St. Lucie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.