CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – The death of a deaf 37-year-old Margate man in an apparent road rage episode with a county firefighter remains a mystery.
Coral Springs police said Paul Peterman died after engaging in the road rage incident with Joshua Tullis, a Broward County Sheriff's Office firefighter.
Peterman was found unconscious on the street near his pickup, police said. The nature of his injuries remains unknown.
Cellphone video was released Monday.
Police said the incident started in Margate and ended in the area of Atlantic Boulevard and Riverside Drive.
The video shows Peterman jumping out of his vehicle and diving through Tullis’ passenger window.
Tullis' attorney Eric Schwartzreich said his client was headed home to his wife and kids when he was cut off by Peterman.
"It is regrettable and unfortunate and tragic that Mr. Peterman lost his life, but what has to be understood is the victim in this case is Joshua Tullis," Schwartzreich said.
He said Tullis feared for his life, and began recording the incident on his iPhone. Tullis' cellphone video captured the moment that Peterman got out of his vehicle and charged toward the truck.
Schwartzreich said Peterman dived through the passenger window and then got violent.
"Goes right through my client's passenger window and starts swatting at him, attacking him. It is scary," Schwartzreich said.
The video cuts off as Tullis is speeding away from the scene.
When police arrived, they found Peterman unconscious and on the road.
He later died at the hospital.
Tullis learned of the outcome of the incident when he watched the news and "as soon as that happened, he went right to law enforcement, and showed them the tape," Schwartzreich said.
He said law enforcement officials, on their own, corroborated the footage with "independent eyewitnesses."
Peterman’s friends and family said the former Eagle Scout was a loving and caring man, who was anything but violent.
"He's the last person that you would think of when you hear the word road rage or anything. That's just not him,” a friend said.
Charges have not been filed in this case.
Coral Springs police declined to comment on the case as the investigation is ongoing.