Deltona, FL – A Deltona man is out on $2,000 bond after deputies say he uttered racial slurs at a dump truck driver and threatened to shoot him in an apparent fit of road rage.
32-year-old Chance Haas was arrested by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office around 1:30 PM Thursday at his Stallings Avenue home. He’s since left Volusia County Jail after he was charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
VCSO says it all started around 1 PM at the intersection of Stallings and George Sauls Street in Deltona between Haas and a 55-year-old black man who lives in Sanford and works for Masci Construction.
According to the incident report, the victim told deputies he was driving the dump truck east on George Sauls approaching the Stallings intersection when he stopped at a stop sign and then inched the dump truck forward so he could avoid some overgrown vegetation and see if it was safe to turn.
It was at that point when the victim says Haas – who was behind the wheel of a white Ford F-250 truck – passed right in front of the dump truck heading north on Stallings and then came to a stop after turning west onto George Sauls.
The victim claims Haas rolled down his window and yelled at him for going past the stop line, starting an argument where both men got out of their vehicles. He said Haas grabbed a silver gun that was stored in the F-250 at one point and racked the slide back as if he was loading it.
2 witnesses told VCSO they heard Haas used the “N-word” several times during the argument and threaten to shoot the dump truck driver, but also said that they never saw Haas with a gun at any point.
Haas’ mother – who lives nearby where the incident took place – came outside and tried to calm her son down, according to the victim. It was after she left when he says Haas pulled the gun on him.
The victim flagged down a VCSO deputy for assistance once Haas drove away from the scene without firing a shot, per the report.
Haas returned to his home while deputies were on scene and told them that he was upset because the truck driver went through the stop sign and nearly hit his truck. He also claimed he grabbed the gun in self-defense because the dump truck driver was walking towards him, but the driver claimed he never approached Haas or his truck.
A search of the truck turned up a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson with a silver slide and 13 rounds loaded in the magazine, per the report. All those items were seized as evidence.
Chance Haas (mugshot courtesy VCJ)
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