COPS CORNER: Attempted good deed punished

Dec. 28

Attempted good deed gets punished

8:48 p.m. 2500 block of Palm Coast Parkway.

False name given to law enforcement. A 15-year-old boy approached a homeless woman near the county library in Palm Coast and tried to give her $15. Instead of taking the money, the teen later told deputies, she turned around and pepper sprayed him. When deputies found the woman, 61, she was "immediately hostile" and gave them a false name. She said the teen had "accosted" her, and denied pepper spraying him. Deputies asked to see her canister of pepper spray. It was wet and oily from recent use. The teen's arm was red from the spray. The teen and his family didn't want to press charges, but deputies charged the woman for giving a false name to law enforcement.

Dec. 29

That's not how you clear a gun

First block of Bunker View Drive.

Shooting. A man heard a loud noise in his home, went to check it out and found a bullet in his tub. He found and confronted the shooter, who'd fired three rounds onto the property. The shooter told law enforcement that his firearm had been malfunctioning, so he'd tried to clear it by firing into a wood line — which had a backdrop of residential homes. Deputies arrested him.

Jan. 6

Parking-lot rage

4:02 p.m. 1400 block of Palm Coast Parkway NW.

Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A 19-year-old pulled into a parking space in a shopping plaza and an older woman jumped back, thinking he was going to hit her.

The 19-year-old came back to his car later and found that an older man had parked a Kia directly behind him. As the 19-year-old walked toward his car, the older man walked up to him, stuck a gun against his cheek and said, "You almost hit my wife."

The man left, but the 19-year-old took a photo of his license plate, and deputies found him at his home. The man, 61, admitted he'd pulled a gun on the 19-year-old. Deputies arrested him.