Marine Just ‘Reacted to Situation’ to Save Driver

The wife of a tow truck driver shot six times by an enraged motorist along Interstate 5 said Friday that her husband believes his life was saved by the Marine who dragged him to safety while the gunman kept firing.

Melissa Naylor said her wounded husband, Brian, 23, tried to flag down drivers for help during the Wednesday morning assault but cars sped past.

Instead, Lance Cpl. Trevor Farley, 20, soon to be discharged because of chronic knee problems, sprinted 100 yards, hopped a fence and carried the dazed and bleeding Naylor nearly 150 yards to safety.

The gunman, later identified as Henry Ricardo Enciso, 26, an ex-convict from Duarte, fired twice at Farley as the Marine carried Naylor toward an emergency phone along the freeway, officials said.

Enciso then fled into Camp Pendleton and was shot to death by civilian and military police officers after refusing to surrender.

“Brian told me: ‘If [Farley] wasn’t there, I’d be dead. That guy wanted to kill me,’” Melissa Naylor said. “He wanted my husband’s life.”

Officials have yet to determine a motive for the crime, which started when Naylor stopped to help a driver in a broken-down Cadillac on the shoulder of the southbound lanes next to Camp Pendleton.

Melissa Naylor said her husband told her that the driver refused his assistance and then became enraged when told that, under California Highway Patrol rules, a tag would have to be put on his car noting that assistance had been offered. The husband works for a San Marcos company under contract with the CHP to help stranded drivers.

Naylor was shot six times in the abdomen, arm and lower back and underwent surgery at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where he is expected to remain for four more days.

Farley was attending a pre-discharge meeting in a base chapel next to the freeway when the shooting began. He said he reacted instinctively.

“I just saw someone in need, so I reacted to the situation,” said Farley, of Chandler, Ariz., a truck driver in the Marine Corps. “At the time, I wasn’t concerned with myself.”

Melissa Naylor said of Farley, “He has a tremendous heart.”

Farley said he is still trying to adjust to being called a hero.

“Being shot at changes the way food tastes--everything tastes a little bit livelier than before,” he said. “I never thought about any kind of scenario like this happening to me.”

Marine officials said Farley is being nominated for a commendation for bravery. Marines who know Farley said his actions were not unexpected.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Sgt. Major Shon Brodie. “I expect great things from Marines.”