PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A Largo man was arrested by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday after he allegedly shot a 12-year-old boy.
Yancy Crowder, 31, was charged with aggravated child abuse with a deadly weapon, felon in possession of a firearm, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
According to a Sheriff’s Office report, deputies responded to the Verona Avenue home on Friday at about 6:34 p.m. after receiving a report that shots were fired. Upon arrival, they found the 12-year-old victim with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
According to detectives, Crowder and another male were in front of the Verona Avenue home, when Calvert Hart, 31, of Clearwater, arrived at the location.
Crowder then entered his home, grabbed a firearm, and came back outside. That’s when he fired in Hart's direction multiple times, the report stated.
As Hart fled the scene in his vehicle, Crowder continued to fire at him.
The 12-year-old boy, who was standing in a nearby front yard on Verona Avenue, was struck by a bullet, the report stated. He was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Both Crowder and Hart fled the scene before deputies arrived.
On Saturday, Pinellas Sheriff’s Office detectives, with the assistance of the Pasco Sheriff's Office, arrested Crowder in Zephyrhills.
When Pinellas County Sheriff's Office detectives interviewed Crowder, he said he was at the Verona Avenue address when the incident occurred but denied having a firearm or hearing any gunshots.
Crowder also said his leaving the area before law enforcement arrived was simply coincidental, the report stated.
Crowder was booked into the Pasco County Jail pending transfer to the Pinellas County Jail.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
