Posted on 12/04/2003 8:21:48 AM PST by Tunehead54
Melvin B. Spaulding, 71, saw three men beating up his 63-year- old friend in the street and decided to do something about it.
Spaulding held a .22-caliber pistol and warned the men once, twice, three times to stop. Then he fired, striking one in the right biceps.
Later Sunday night, Pinellas sheriff's deputies arrested Spaulding on a charge of attempted murder. He was being held without bail Monday at the Pinellas County Jail.
"He was trying to do the right thing, but it ended up being the wrong thing," said Pinellas sheriff's spokesman Tim Goodman.
The man he helped, George Lowe, sees Spaulding's actions differently.
"As far as I'm concerned, he's my hero. He's my friend, but he's also my hero."
Lowe said he and Spaulding have worked for years to clean up their corner of the Lealman area, keeping a watch out for drug dealers, burglars and gang members and alerting police to problems.
Now, Spaulding is behind bars, awaiting a decision from the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's office. The case will require careful study before prosecutors decide whether to file an attempted murder charge, said Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant state attorney.
The man who was shot, James T. Moore of Seminole, was treated and released from Bayfront Medical Center on Sunday night, his 20th birthday.
After leaving the hospital, he went to jail. Deputies arrested Moore on a battery charge, based on an unrelated incident earlier Sunday night.
Lowe, who sustained bruises, a sore back and a torn leg muscle, said the incident began shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday when he heard loud noises outside his home in the 4000 block of 40th Street N.
Outside, he said, he discovered a group of young men had been pounding on cars and shouting. He told them to stop it and move on.
One man swung at him, missing, but then kicked Lowe in the hip, knocking him to the asphalt. He said two other men began kicking him. A fourth was present but didn't fight, he said.
Lowe said he did not hear a gun go off. After the fighting stopped, "somebody said 'one of the guys was shot.' I said, 'What do you mean, shot?' "
Asked later why Spaulding would have fired his gun, Lowe said, "To save my ass, I guess. I know I would have done it for him."
Spaulding, who has no criminal record in Florida, acknowledged firing the handgun, according to sheriff's records.
The other two men involved in the altercation were James Curtis Ganoe III and Eric James Palm, both 18, from St. Petersburg, sheriff's officials said. Neither had been charged with any offense Monday. Goodman, of the Sheriff's Office, said an investigation was continuing.
Describing Spaulding's actions, Goodman said, "I'm sure he was concerned for his friend's safety. . . . The use of a weapon to stop a confrontation is not the correct way. He would have been better off calling 911."
Bartlett said people in certain circumstances can fire at aggressors to prevent them from killing someone or causing "great bodily harm" to a victim.
Bartlett was not familiar with the case. He said if his office's investigation confirms that three young men were attacking a 63- year-old man, it's possible a case could be made that the force was justified.
"On the other hand, if it wasn't a life-threatening or great bodily harm scenario, then the intervening party had no justification to use the force," Bartlett said.
George Tragos, a defense attorney, former prosecutor and current vice chairman of the Florida Bar's criminal rules committee, said a key point to consider is whether Spaulding used greater force against Moore than Moore was using against Lowe. You can't use deadly force to stop a simple fistfight, he said.
Earlier Sunday night, deputies had been looking for Moore in connection with a similar incident. A man in the 3300 block of 55th Avenue N said four young men were walking by making noise. He asked them to be quiet, and Moore allegedly said he had a .45-caliber handgun. The other man said he had a gun inside, and Moore allegedly hit him in the face with a plastic bottle, sheriff's officials said.
He was held in the Pinellas County Jail late Monday on $1,263 bail.
Letters to the Editor Published December 4, 2003
Re: Man jailed after gunshot stops fight, Dec. 2.
Seventy-one-year-old Melvin Spaulding should receive a medal, not jail time for possibly saving his neighbor's life from the punks who very well might have killed him. He apparently warned the attackers three times before he opened fire. Even then, he didn't shoot to kill. I would have done the very same thing if my neighbor or my family were being attacked.
Sheriff's spokesman Tim Goodman claims that "the use of a weapon to stop a confrontation is not the correct way. He would have been better off calling 911." It might have been better for Spaulding, but not for the victim. In the time it would have taken for officers to arrive, the victim could have been dead or at least seriously injured. It's sad that the law seems to be on the side of the criminals instead of their victims.
The bottom line is, we all have to look out for each other. The police can't be everywhere at once, and in circumstances such as this one sometimes common sense has to take precedence over "law."
-- Bob Dalzell, St. Petersburg
The force seemed excessive
Re: Man jailed after gunshot stops fight.
When three young men are beating the hell out of a 63-year-old man, that is not a simple fistfight. If you want to talk about "excessive force," I'd say that's what they were using. No one has the right to put his hands on anyone else against that person's approval. I applaud the actions of Melvin Spaulding. He should be given a good citizen award.
Let's take a look at the ages of the alleged attackers. One was 20 years old. The other two were 18. Boy, that was a fair fight, wasn't it? It makes me think of a roaming pack of dogs going after a weaker dog.
It's a good thing our legal system is looking out for the rights of the alleged attackers. They sure aren't looking out for the rights of Mr. Spaulding or his friend, George Lowe. Well, after all, that's justice in America today. At one time in our country laws were harsh in some cases, but they were designed to protect the majority, the honest, hardworking people. Anyone over 18 was responsible for what he or she did. It was a good system. Too bad they did away with it. My hat is off to Mr. Spaulding.
-- D.A. Robinson, Brooksville
One punch can be deadly
Three men attacked a 63-year-old man in St. Petersburg. They kicked and punched him while he was on the ground. His friend saved him by firing a gun at the attackers. Nice story.
However, the police arrested the man on a charge of attempted murder, saying he should have called 911, and that he can only shoot at aggressors to prevent them from "killing someone or causing great bodily harm."
What short memories some people have. Forget the fact that a man can be long dead before the police respond to a 911 call. Have they forgotten Christopher Fannan? One punch was all it took to kill the 18-year-old kid. And Chris isn't the only person who has been killed recently by a punch to the head. How do we tell the family of Chris Fannan that being attacked by three men can't do "great bodily harm"?
-- Sam Nall, St. Petersburg
There's little to study
Re: Man jailed after gunshot shops fight.
Once again Pinellas County has proven its stupidity by jailing an elderly man for protecting a friend from a group of teens. I am appalled that the state attorney has to even study, much less "carefully study," this to determine if the man being beaten was in danger of losing his life, which caused his friend to shoot one of the teens.
Maybe the state attorney should be put in a room and kicked by a group of teens to see if his life would be in danger. The state attorney would probably determine his life is in danger and would probably have no problem dropping all charges of attempted murder on this man and charge the teens with attempted murder.
Thanks, Pinellas County, you make me proud - not!
-- Anthony Bertucci, St. Petersburg
A right to be a victim
Re: Man jailed after gunshot stops fight.
Melvin Spaulding should be considered a hero for using his gun to stop a fight and probably to save his friend's life. Why was he jailed?
An old man was being beaten up by predators in a bad neighborhood. Another old man saved him, using a firearm. He didn't have a right to defend him, but his friend had a right to be a victim?
Call 911? That's a real joke! By the time the police got there, George Lowe could have been dead.
Come on - wake up, folks. It's tyranny when a person cannot defend himself but has a right to be a victim. The liberal media have a propensity to print the bad news about guns instead of the good!
-- Frank J. Barbera, Spring Hill
A bias against guns
Re: Oklahoma manhunt succeeds in Texas, Nov. 25.
Only liberally biased reporters and editors could have written this story and titled it Oklahoma manhunt succeeds in Texas. Anyone reading the facts of this story has to see that the "manhunt" was a total failure.
The murder suspect was on the lam for five weeks - at which point he kidnapped a doctor and his wife at gunpoint! After driving 300 miles toward Mexico, the doctor had an opportunity to get his own firearm and shoot the murder suspect, thereby saving himself and his wife.
How can this story be titled Oklahoma manhunt succeeds in Texas? The doctor and his wife were saved by the personal right to own a firearm: the Second Amendment (America's original homeland security).
Your bias is sometimes subtle but continuously pervasive.
-- Donald B. McLendon, St. Petersburg
And this F'N Idiot works for the police???
Has he never read Chapter 790 of the FL CODE?------
I will be back w/ the relevant code section..............
HE would have been better off....sure...he wouldn't be in jail...he would also be able to attend his friend's funeral.
Mr. Goodman should be beaten and kicked by a gang of young men for as long as whatever the average 911 response time is in Pinellas County.
Holy crap, I know he didn't just say that.
These guys are lucky someone wih a real weapon wasn't present. I would have shot him with a .40 S&W, more than once, and not in the bicep. "With intent to kill" would have been truly fulfilled.
And FWIW, a shotgun is your best bet at crowd control in any setting. The .22 pistol may be the issue here as well. It's a very far traveling round to be popping off in an urban setting. Not too smart. Short of a headshot it's got no stopping power at all.
HE would have been better off....sure...he wouldn't be in jail...he would also be able to attend his friend's funeral.
They'll be brought up on charges because they're white. If the races were reversed you wouldn't have even heard of it, I suspect.
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