A judge granted bond to a former Rockledge councilman accused of firing a gun into an occupied vehicle after a property dispute, according to the Rockledge Police Department.

  • Ex-Rockledge councilman charged with aggravated assault with firearm
  • No one was injured, according to Rockledge Police
  • Ralph McCoig's son with him when he was taken into custody

Ralph McCoig, 62, was granted $15,000 bond on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and firing into an occupied vehicle. But those charges could be upgraded.

McCoig is a real-estate agent and former two-term Rockledge councilman. His attorney convinced the judge he's not a flight risk due to his standing in the community and having a clean record.

Police say he came up to the intersection of Barton Avenue and Seminole Drive just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, when he saw a truck with a man with whom he had been having a dispute, police said.

McCoig is accused of firing a shot from his car and putting a bullet hole into the driver's side door, police said.

The driver called 911, and that began a search for McCoig's 2001 white Lexus. Police headed toward his Viera home.

They were able to reach McCoig by phone, and Rockledge officers stopped him in a church parking lot, where he surrendered an hour after the incident.

Prosecutors said as the investigation progresses, upgraded charges could be possible.

"If you were to charge as an attempted murder, it would be necessary to prove that was the intent in which they did it," prosecutor Gary Beatty said. "At this point in time, the investigation is still ongoing. It may or not get upgraded to that, depending on what the final results are of the investigation."

Police say McCoig's 4-year-old son was in the car at the time he was taken into custody, but the child was not with him when the shooting took place.

The victim declined to comment on the case.