WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Drug Enforcement Administration agent is now facing a charge of second-degree murder with a firearm, five months after a road-rage incident in Boynton Beach and death later of a 67-year-old man.
On Jan. 6, the Palm Beach County State Attorney Office amended charges against Bradley Sosnowsky, 55, in connection with the shooting. Originally, he was charged with discharging a firearm from a vehicle and aggravated battery with a firearm.
On Friday, he waived an arraignment scheduled for Tuesday and pleaded not guilty. Instead there will be a status check Tuesday before Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe at 8:30 a.m. via Zoom.
On Aug. 1, Sosnowsky and Thomas Vanantwerp were involved in an altercation at the intersection of West Boynton Beach Boulevard and North Congress Avenue shortly after they exited Interstate 95.
Two days later Sosnowsky was arrested.
He was released Aug. 5 from the Palm Beach County jail after posting $85,000 bail.
Vanantwerp's death was confirmed Sept. 14.
Sosnowsky, just seconds after opening fire on him, said: "That's what you get," according to the arrest report.
Dash camera video from his 2020 black Nissan Pathfinder showed the men — with Vanantwerp driving a white Chevy 2500 pickup truck — exiting I-95 and traveling west on Boynton Beach Boulevard.
Both drivers entered the middle lane at the same time, with Vanantwerp going in front of Sosnowsky, nearly causing a crash.
Sosnowsky then "accelerates rapidly" on Boynton Beach Boulevard, reaching speeds up to 70 miles per hour, and appearing to travel at a "high speed as he passes all vehicles within his vicinity," according to the arrest report.
Sosnowsky then stopped at a red light at West Boynton Beach Boulevard and North Congress Avenue.
Sosnowsky said Vanantwerp had his "fists clenched."
According to the arrest report, the men continued arguing before Sosnowsky eventually called 911.
Police said Sosnowsky shot Vanantwerp with a North American Arms .22 caliber revolver, telling officers that "he feared the victim was going to attack him as they were at a red light."
When police officers arrived at the scene, they said Vanantwerp had been shot in the "upper chest area" and was losing consciousness. He was taken to Delray Medical Center for emergency surgery.
In 2020, Sosnowsky was sentenced to two years of probation for getting around a security checkpoint at the Fort Lauderdale airport using his retired DEA credential.
He was a special agent with the DEA from 1999 to 2014. Previously, he worked for the U.S. Secret Service as a special agent from 1995-99 and uniformed agent with the agency from 1989-92 assigned to the White House's Emergency Response Team. Sosnowsky also was with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service from 1992-96
