BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
LAWTEY— Bradford deputies arrested a 35-year-old Lawtey man after he trespassed on private property, then fired a handgun from his truck after being asked to leave.
According to an arrest report, Wesley Nathan Bailey was arrested on Sunday, Aug. 24 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm in public or on residential property, discharging a firearm from a vehicle and tampering with evidence.
Arresting officer Jacob Desue wrote in the report that trail cameras alerted the property owner of a white Ford F-150 on his property nearby, and that the owner asked Bailey to leave.
“Both (the victim) and the subject proceeded into a verbal altercation for several minutes before the subject left,” wrote Desue.
The victim, then joined by a second man, said he heard small arms fire near the intersection of NW 267th Street and NW CR 125.
“(The second man) also stated seeing the subject’s vehicle traveling westbound on NW CR 125 away from where the gunfire came from,” wrote Desue.
The deputy added that he recovered empty shell casings of a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun where the gunfire came from, in addition to two bullet holes in a nearby speed limit sign.
Desue wrote that Bailey later admitted to discharging the firearm out of the window of his vehicle, then disposing of the weapon at a family member’s home.
“It was discovered that the suspect gave a false statement to the firearm’s location,” the officer wrote.
