Top inset: Timothy Andricks (Dignity Memorial). Bottom inset: Nicholas Koontz (Florida Department of Corrections). Background: The West Bradenton, Florida, neighborhood where Nicholas Koontz shot and killed Timothy Andricks (The Bradenton Herald).
A Florida man was sent to state prison this week after his conviction for killing a motorist in a road rage shooting that was sparked by a thrown paper cup of ice and soda from McDonald’s.
Nicholas Anthony Koontz, 26, will spend 25 years in prison for the death of Timothy P. Andricks, records show. Koontz was transferred on Tuesday to the Florida Department of Corrections after his September sentencing.
Koontz was convicted of manslaughter with a firearm in April.
According to prosecutors, Koontz and victim Andricks got into “an apparent road rage altercation while driving in west Bradenton” on Oct. 12, 2021, authorities said.
“During the altercation, the victim evidently threw his paper McDonald’s cup which contained ice and soda at the defendant’s car,” officials said. “The defendant then followed the victim at a high rate of speed until they came to a stop on a residential street. When the unarmed victim exited his car, the defendant exited his car and shot the victim several times.”
Koontz was arrested within an hour.
At trial, the defendant claimed for the first time that he was acting in self-defense, prosecutors said.
A witness “captured the shooting on his ring camera” and was able to provide details to investigators, according to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime. The video reportedly showed Andricks behind the wheel of a silver Toyota Camry “pulling up to a stop sign at a high rate of speed, followed closely by a black SUV.”
“Both vehicles come to a complete stop,” the affidavit continued. “Timothy exits the Camry, with nothing in his hands and starts walking back towards the black SUV.”
Koontz shot Andricks as the victim walked back to his car, the affidavit said.
“The white male driving the black SUV, exits his vehicle and fires multiple gunshots at Timothy Andricks and he immediately falls to the ground,” said the document.
Witnesses took down partial license plate numbers and provided them to police. The car was tracked to Koontz’s residence.
Investigators responded to the residence and contacted Koontz’s father, the affidavit said. The father told police his son arrived at the residence and was visibly upset.
Witnesses also told investigators that Koontz had been seen parking his black SUV in a fenced area of his residence, which was not visible from the street after moving vehicles out of the driveway.
Marisa Sarnoff contributed to this report.
