A 24-year-old Boynton Beach man is facing first-degree murder and aggravated stalking charges after detectives alleged he followed a FedEx truck driver for about 40 miles through three counties before fatally shooting him in the parking lot of the company’s complex in Riviera Beach.
Investigators say Tyler Vidro shot Nathaniel Padgett seven times on the night of April 16 in an apparent act of road rage. He had accused Padgett of hitting his vehicle in the southbound lanes of Florida’s Turnpike in St. Lucie County. Vidro’s arrest report does not speak about damages to either vehicle.
Padgett, 34, died at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach about two hours after the attack.
The arrest report, released April 20, said Vidro drove to a gas station in West Palm Beach moments after the shooting, where he called police and told a dispatcher that he acted out of fear for his safety.
He told a police officer he had “emptied the magazine” of his weapon, according to the report. He then requested an attorney and declined to speak further.
Investigators booked Vidro into the Palm Beach County Jail on the morning of April 17. During a hearing the next day, County Judge Paul Damico ordered that he be held without bail on the murder charge.
An attorney who represented Vidro in court could not immediately be reached for comment.
Man facing murder charge chased Fed Ex truck through 3 Florida counties
According to Vidro’s arrest report, Riviera Beach police officers responded shortly before 9:15 p.m. on April 16 to a ShotSpotter alert at the FedEx complex along Blue Heron Boulevard. They found nine 9 mm casings at the scene.
A woman who identified herself as Padgett’s girlfriend told investigators the situation began in Port St. Lucie, where Padgett had picked her up. She said Padgett was driving to the Riviera Beach FedEx complex to drop off the truck he used for work and switch to his personal pickup.
Padgett’s girlfriend told investigators that she and Padgett were traveling south on the turnpike in Port St. Lucie when Vidro pulled alongside them in his vehicle, lowered his window and began shrugging in an apparent attempt to provoke a confrontation.
The woman said she and Padgett continued south through St. Lucie and Martin counties and into Palm Beach County and passed the Jupiter exit sign when they noticed that Vidro’s gray Hyundai Sonata was still traveling beside them.
The woman said Padgett drove toward the FedEx facility, refusing to engage with Vidro. As both vehicles arrived there, Vidro reportedly exited his vehicle, walked to a restricted area and and angrily confronted Padgett, alleging that Padgett hit his vehicle.
Padgett reportedly told Vidro that he refused to get into a fight at his workplace, and then attempted to drive away in his personal vehicle.
Vidro followed Padgett for a short distance before Padgett exited his truck, retrieved a concrete block from the ground and approached Vidro’s Hyundai, the report said. The two men continued to exchange words before Vidro took out a handgun and began shooting, police said.
Surveillance-camera video showed that Padgett did not throw the concrete block or raise it in a threatening manner, according to the arrest report.
Julius Whigham II covers northern Palm Beach County and public safety for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boynton man charged in FedEx driver road rage murder near West Palm
Reporting by Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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