DeLAND, Fla. – A driver who says he was shot at by a car full of Stetson University basketball players said Tuesday he's afraid they will only get a slap on wrist.
The man, who didn't want to be identified, said he was driving eastbound on Interstate 4 near Lee Road on Friday morning when a dark-colored Mercedes pulled up next to him.
He said a passenger pulled out a gun and started shooting at his car, hitting his windshield with what appeared to be a pellet.
"I was scared because I thought it was a real firearm," he said. "I thought for sure I was going to be shot. I heard all the rest of the shots go down the side of my car, and when I looked over, the gun was pointed directly at me."
Investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol said the man called 911 to alert authorities.
"I didn't want them to get away with it," the man said. "This could've been my mother driving a vehicle. This could've been your mother. Anybody else out there could've lost control of their vehicle and it would've been a very different scenario."
The driver told News 6 he followed the Mercedes for nearly 25 miles from Lee Road in Orange County to Saxon Boulevard in Volusia County.
That's where officers from several law enforcement agencies pulled the car over.
Inside, they found three Stetson University basketball players.
Investigators determined one passenger, Grant Lozoya, had pulled the trigger, while teammate Angel Rivera drove and teammate Will Holmann was in the back seat.
Lozoya was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and shooting into a car.
He posted bail and left jail Friday.
Stetson University suspended all three players from the team, pending the outcome of the case.
The driver told News 6 he is concerned the charges may be dropped because of the players' positions on the team and because they used a pellet gun.
"How many other people is it going to take? Is it going to take a woman dying? A child dying? Are they going to treat a pellet gun as just a pellet gun or slingshot?" he asked. "Any one of them can kill somebody."