Police said a passenger fired during a pursuit that began after an encounter near a Fort Myers apartment complex.
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Two men were arrested after a road rage confrontation escalated into gunfire, repeated vehicle collisions and a chase through Fort Myers streets, according to a police arrest report.
Fort Myers police identified the driver of a black Nissan Pathfinder as 23-year-old Rogelio Hernandez Jr. and a rear passenger as 31-year-old Christian Rivas. Investigators accused Rivas of firing a handgun from the moving SUV and charged Hernandez with leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage. A second passenger who had been detained was released.
Officers responded about 1:18 a.m. after receiving a report that someone had fired at a silver Mercedes near Colonial Boulevard. Police soon found a Nissan matching the reported description at a RaceTrac gas station on Cleveland Avenue and detained its three occupants while investigators examined the confrontation.
The Mercedes driver told officers he had been delivering food when he encountered the Nissan traveling in the wrong direction through an apartment complex near Six Mile Cypress Parkway. According to the report, a verbal dispute began and continued after the vehicles reached a traffic light.
The driver said the Nissan’s occupants challenged him to fight as the vehicles continued onto Challenger Boulevard. He briefly stopped to speak with them but drove away when their behavior became more aggressive, the report said.
Investigators said the Nissan then struck the Mercedes and left the scene. The Mercedes driver followed because he was trying to obtain information to provide to police, according to his account. During the pursuit, he reported seeing a passenger fire two shots from the Nissan before both vehicles continued through several intersections.
The Mercedes driver later identified Rivas as the person who fired the weapon during a police identification procedure. Police said damage found on both vehicles was consistent with multiple collisions during the confrontation and pursuit.
After being advised of their rights, the Nissan’s three occupants gave investigators similar accounts of the dispute and acknowledged that Rivas had fired the gun, according to the arrest report. They said the shots were directed toward the ground. The report did not say that anyone was struck by gunfire.
Rivas was charged with discharging a firearm from a vehicle, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of possession of a controlled substance. Hernandez was charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage. The charges are allegations, and the cases had not been resolved as of Sunday.
Both men were booked into the Lee County Jail. Police did not release additional information about the Mercedes driver or announce further arrests.
Author note: Last updated July 19, 2026.