Truck driver shot during possible robbery attempt at Florida rest stop

Florida police are on the hunt for two suspects who attacked and shot a truck driver at a rest stop late last week.

The incident happened on the morning of Thursday, August 9, at the rest stop off of I-75 at mile marker 70 in Collier County, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

Police responded to the rest stop at approximately 5:30 a.m. when after trucker Luis Edwards Ruiz called 911 and reported that he had been dragged from his truck, beaten, and shot.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found Ruiz lying on the ground and shot through the right shoulder. He was awake and able to talk to police with difficulty, though he was struggling to breathe.

Ruiz told police that he was a the rest stop to take a rest break when he had been shot by two men in a truck. It isn’t clear whether he meant a commercial vehicle or a pickup truck.

Rescue crews on scene say that the bullet entered Ruiz’s right shoulder but lodged in his chest. Ruiz was taken to the hospital for treatment of non life-threatening injuries.

Ruiz was driving a refrigerated box truck at the time of the incident. Police said that the rear sliding doors of the truck was open when they arrived on scene. It isn’t clear what the truck was hauling or whether anything was stolen.

The Florida Highway Patrol assisted the Collier County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation into the incident.

No arrests have been made. The incident remains under investigation.

If you have information on the incident, you’re asked to contact the Collier County Sheriff’s Office at 239-252-9300.