Leodan Gallo’s unhinged violence put his life, his girlfriend’s life, and other motorists at risk. Officers even nicknamed him the “machete maniac.” His behavior seemed to shock the sheriff’s deputies. But one person stayed levelheaded through the chaos: his girlfriend, the target of his aggression.

Gallo reportedly drove to his girlfriend’s apartment, initiated an altercation, and followed her when she tried to leave. This would have been a great time to let her go and finish the conversation later, when level heads might prevail. But Gallo chose otherwise.

The woman drove off, so Gallo jumped into his Nissan Pathfinder and chased her. Sheriff Carmine Marceno of Lee County, Florida, said, “He follows the victim’s car. He’s driving erratically. You know, whatever he can do to keep up with that victim.”

She had to stop at the intersection of Homestead Road N and Alabama Road S. Gallo got out of his SUV and hit her rear window with a machete hard enough to shatter the glass.

Many victims might have panicked. But not this woman. She kept her cool and sped to the sheriff’s 2nd Precinct office. Then she ran into the lobby.

Charging a police station with a machet is never the answer

At that point, Gallo would have been wise to flee or stay put and explain himself. Instead, he yelled at his girlfriend from the parking lot. Then he followed her into the police station lobby. If tearing into the parking lot didn’t get the entire precinct’s attention, storming the lobby certainly did.

This would have been the perfect moment to turn himself in. But when Gallo saw deputies coming his way, he turned and ran.

He made it back to his car. Deputies tried to restrain him and pull him out. Gallo reversed, then accelerated forward. He hit deputies with his open car door before escaping the parking lot. But he didn’t get far. Deputies stopped his vehicle and arrested him.

The sheriff’s office said it found two machetes within his reach inside the Pathfinder. Deputies arrested him for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, criminal mischief, disturbing the peace, and fleeing and eluding law enforcement.

Sheriff Marceno concluded, “I am incredibly proud of my deputies and detectives’ quick actions that led to putting this dangerous, reckless criminal behind bars. Violence of any kind has no place in our community.” You can see the bodycam footage embedded below: