COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. -- Brand new details emerging tonight about anger over ATV's in a secluded community in Golden Gates Estates. The outrage boiled over and sparked a shooting.
Twenty-six year old Shane McFarland remains in the Collier County Jail, charged with firing a gun in public and aggravated assault, after shooting toward a rider who was using the dirt road in his neighborhood as an ATV path.
ATV riders call the dirt road down Della Drive treasured terrain. Daniel Vuthaj says road conditions in this area if Golden Gates Estates are terrible.
"As you can see you got craters, you couldn't even call those potholes," Vuthaj said. Vuthaj says ATV riders have been making the best of the road conditions until their neighbor, McFarland, got so fed up, he started blasting bullets.
"One of our neighbors got kind of fed up because they're doing it on a daily basis; night and day. He started firing at them."
According to a Collier County Arrest report, Shane McFarland yelled at an ATV rider to slow down and starting firing with a pistol into the ground. Neighbors like Donald Twedell say they're shocked McFarland took his anger so far.
"If you have to stoop that low to shoot at somebody on an ATV who wants to have fun, why do it?"
When the driver asked McFarland why he was so upset, he started yelling again, firing two more rounds, but this time pointed towards the riders' direction.
"This is just weird," Twedell said. "Why would you do this to a guy who just wants to go out and have fun?"
ATV's are not allowed on county roads, but are allowed on private property with permission. According to Collier County, Della Drive is a private road, meaning people who live on the road are allowed to ride.
"The four wheelers are annoying, but shooting at them is a little extreme," Vuthaj says. "I guess everyone has their way of handling things."
Four In Your Corner reached out to the county to ask about road conditions on Della Drive. A spokesperson says Della Road is covered by a taxing unit. This happens when the community gets together to decide the work that needs to get done and then tax themselves to make changes.
