Suspected carjacker expected to survive shooting by deputy

Incident began as domestic issue, mushroomed into something more violent

DELAND, Fla. – A carjacking suspect who was shot by a Volusia County deputy Tuesday afternoon is expected to survive, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.

The carjacking started as a dispute at the Discount Market on Euclid Avenue in DeLand between two men who were once romantically involved and who had taken the drug Molly prior to the incident, according to the arrest report.

The victim, Joey Buttafuoco, told deputies that he was giving Justin Kaegael, 28, a ride, but then Kaegael got upset when the victim said he wouldn't drive Kaegael to Daytona Beach so he could sell clothes at Plato's Closet. 

Kaegael asked Buttafuoco to put his backpack in the trunk of his vehicle, then Kaegael got into the driver's seat.

Deputies said Buttafuoco tried to stop Kaegael as he started the vehicle and drove with Buttafuoco still clinging on because his arm was stuck in the seat. Buttafuoco said Kaegael repeatedly punched him to try to knock him lose, according to the report.

Witnesses told News 6 they watched as Buttafuoco was dragged by the vehicle.

"I said, 'Why is his car door open?' It was wide open," one neighbor said. "You could see an arm going in and out, kind of going in and out of the car."

Deputies said Buttafuoco was able to free himself while Kaegael was driving about 40 mph on South Boundary Avenue. Kaegael also crashed Buttafuoco's vehicle into a truck, deputies said.

"(Kaegael) was a friend that did a very horrible thing and stole my car and dragged my body for blocks," Buttafuoco said in a social media message to News 6. He said he is in significant pain and can only use one hand.

Neighbor Sam Hall said he watched as Kaegael got out of the vehicle and stole the red Jeep Compass from a woman who had stopped to help Buttafuoco.

Deputies said that Kaegael used that Jeep to speed up Interstate 4 into Daytona Beach, where they spotted him on Bellevue Avenue trying to carjack another vehicle.

"He backs into a berm and a ditch," Chitwood said. "He then puts the car in forward. The car lunges towards deputies. Deputies open fire."

Chitwood told News 6 that his deputies fired at least 10 shots into the vehicle, hitting Kaegael four times. He said Buttafuoco is banged up, but OK.

He said Kaegael was undergoing surgery at Halifax Hospital, and is expected to make a full recovery.

Buttafuoco told deputies that Kaegael recently got out of a rehab program and he doesn't know why he would do the things he's accused of doing. 

The two deputies who fired their weapons, David Teske, 33, and Bryan Luoma, 58, were placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in deputy-involved shootings, the Sheriff's Office said. 

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates all officer-involved shootings.

The incident marks the fifth Volusia County deputy-related shooting this year and the second in less than a month.

After a deputy-involved shooting on June 29, Chitwood told WMFE in a July 7 interview that the Sheriff's Office planned to start training small groups of deputies on de-escalation techniques.

“I’ve only been the sheriff here for six months in this organization and they have trained the same way for 20 years and they have trained with a warrior mentality,” Chitwood told WMFE. “I have to back that down and train the way I trained in Daytona Beach which was for a guardian mentality.”

Before Chitwood was elected sheriff in November, he was the Daytona Beach police chief for more than 10 years.


About the Authors:

Erik Sandoval joined the News 6 team as a reporter in May 2013 and became an Investigator in 2020. During his time at News 6, Erik has covered several major stories, including the 2016 Presidential campaign. He was also one of the first reporters live on the air at the Pulse Nightclub shooting.