Deputies arrest teen after 6-hour stand off in Dunedin
DUNEDIN — An armed teenager was arrested after firing a gun while fleeing Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies then engaging in a six-hour, rooftop standoff with a tactical team, the agency said in a news release Monday.
Around 8:07 p.m. Sunday, sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of “three suspicious male subjects” near Fairway and Harrison drives, the release said.
At the scene, deputies found two 18-year-olds and a 16-year-old. Deputies said one of the 18-year-olds, Myles Abbott, fled. Deputies followed him with police dogs. The Sheriff’s Office said Abbott shot a gun at bystanders as he fled and also shot himself in the right thigh at some point.
Abbott climbed onto the roof of a home in the 1000 block of Michigan Boulevard, where the six-hour standoff took place, deputies said. According to the release, Abbott pointed his gun at deputies, who tried to convince him to get off the roof from an armored vehicle.
Sheriff’s SWAT and negotiation teams responded and deputies also brought Abbott’s sister to the scene to try and talk to him, which was unsuccessful, the release said. Deputies used bean bag rounds and special equipment to force Abbott off the roof.
The SWAT team took Abbott into custody and transported him to a local hospital to treat his gunshot wound. He was expected to be taken to the Pinellas County jail after he is medically cleared, authorities said.
Pinellas County Court records show there was a warrant’s for Abbott’s arrest for violating sanctions from a juvenile court vehicular homicide case in 2018. Authorities say he was 14 and behind the wheel of a stolen Camaro that left the road in November 2017 at 11th Avenue S at 40th Street in Pinellas County, struck a tree and killed his 15-year-old passenger. The Tampa Bay Times chronicled an epidemic of car thefts carried out by kids as part of its 2017 investigation “Hot Wheels.”
Following his arrest this weekend, Abbott faces charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, grand theft of a firearm, resisting an officer without violence. He also faces two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and charges of loitering and prowling.
The other 18-year-old, Ki’moni Isiah Dorian Anderson, faces charges of being a felon in possession of firearm, grand theft of a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm. He was taken to the Pinellas County Jail.
The 16-year-old is facing charges of grand theft of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm and possession of a firearm by a person under 18. He was taken to the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center.
