Road Rage Leads to Felony Murder Charge

Given the number of drivers on the road, we’ve all become accustomed to impatient drivers. Those who drive erratically and dangerously, and those that are just plain rude. Last week, Hygens Labidou of Wellington, Fort Lauderdale, was the victim of what police say was a racially motivated road rage attack that left one person dead. Police say that Steven Lonzisero, 43, and Edward Borowsky, 28, both white, approached Labidou, who is black, after they became upset with the way he was driving. According to reports, the two men blocked Labidou’s truck with their own truck and began screaming racial slurs at him. Lonzisero and Borowsky dragged Labidou from his truck at knife point, Labidou told detectives.

Witnesses told police that Lonzisero, who is 6 feet tall and 350 pounds, kicked Labidou’s door and demanded he get out of the truck. Labidou, who has a concealed-weapons permit, pulled his gun and shot at both men. Borowsky died as a result of the shots four days later. Lonzisero survived and police say he will be charged with felony murder under state law that provides that partners in crime can be charged with murder even if they did not fire the fatal shot.

This incident was not Lonzisero’s first run in with the law. Neighbors described him as a hot head who confronted a neighbor who was walking his dog in front of his yard. In 1999, Lonzisero pled guilty in New York Federal Court to one count of conspiracy to commit murder in furtherance of racketeering activity and one count of unlawfully taking a motor truck in an interstate shipment case, according to court records. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by three years of federal probation, which he completed in South Florida in 2001. Court records show that in June 2005 Lonzisero was sentenced to time served, a year of house arrest and two years of federal probation for possessing and affecting commerce in firearms after he was reportedly stopped on his way to commit a home invasion robbery. Lonziero was on house arrest when the incident happened last week; however, he had permission to leave his house for work. Labidou, a business owner in Riviera Beach, has declined to comment further on the incident. Police say that Labidou acted in self-defense and will not be charged. Statistics demonstrate that Florida is among the worst states in the country for road rage.