Tevin Hyatt {BSO}
A man has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly firing shots at a man in a Sunrise parking lot following a dispute over a botched rental agreement.
According to Sunrise Police Department records, the shooting took place on December 27 at a plaza parking lot near Mama’s Kitchen restaurant, located near the 1380 block of Sunset Strip.
Broward Sheriff’s deputies and Sunrise Police Department officers responded to the scene after receiving 911 calls.
Records show the victim explained to law enforcement that the incident stemmed from an argument he had with a man he had sent $300 to through a Craigslist ad, later identified as Tevin Hyatt, 25, of Margate, as a deposit for a room rental in Margate.
According to the victim, Hyatt backtracked on the agreement and refused to refund the deposit. For weeks, the pair exchanged angry text messages until, on the day of the incident, the victim reported he had just picked up food from a nearby restaurant when Hyatt, driving a white Mercedes Benz, approached him in the plaza parking lot.
Witnesses described in the report that Hyatt exited his vehicle and began yelling at the victim before allegedly slapping him and throwing food at him, all while recording the encounter on his cellphone.
The victim told officers he attempted to walk away, but Hyatt reportedly followed him in his vehicle, then drew a black handgun from his waistband and fired a single shot at the victim as he was running away.
Records show the bullet did not strike the victim, but a bullethole was later found in a wooden fence behind the plaza.
Detectives interviewed several witnesses who corroborated the victim’s account, including a witness who described seeing the initial altercation and hearing the gunshot. In addition, surveillance footage from nearby businesses further supported the victim’s claims.
Using surveillance footage and license plate readers, detectives identified Hyatt’s vehicle as a service center rental from Mercedes Benz of Coconut Creek. Hyatt, the renter of the vehicle, was located on December 28 at a residence in Sunrise.
On December 30, during a planned felony traffic stop orchestrated by the Sunrise Police Department, Hyatt was detained and questioned by detectives.
Arrest records show Hyatt admitted to striking the victim and throwing food but provided inconsistent accounts regarding his possession and use of a firearm. Initially, he denied pointing or shooting a gun but later admitted to having a firearm in his waistband during the encounter.
Hyatt also told a different version of events that led up to the incident and claimed the victim had threatened him with a firearm, though he offered no evidence of this claim.
Hyatt was arrested and transported to the Broward County Main Jail.
Got News in South Florida? Send it Here. Don’t Miss reading NW Broward County’s #1 News Sites: Parkland Talk, Coconut Creek Talk, Coral Springs Talk, Margate Talk, and Tamarac Talk.
