Tampa man, Darrell Strong was charged with discharging a firearm in public, aggravated assault with a firearm and burglary for the purpose of a battery after firing at another man in the parking lot of the Tampa Home Depot located on Dale Mabry Highway. According to police reports, Raymond Lindstrom of New Port Richey was leaving the parking lot of the Home Depot and drove too closely to Strong’s wife’s vehicle, making it difficult to pass safely. As Lindstrom and Strong’s wife passed, a verbal altercation occurred through each of their windows prompting the intervention by Darrell Strong. Darrell Strong and his friend John Christian confronted Lindstrom, who remained in his vehicle. An argument escalated and eventually a fight broke out as Lindstrom was still in the driver’s seat. Lindstrom ultimately drew his concealed firearm leading to Strong and Christian attempting to take it from him. Strong and Christian then ran to their vehicles to retrieve a firearm as Lindstrom attempted to leave the parking lot but had to drive back by the two men due to Lindstrom’s lane dead ending. As Lindstrom drove back by the two men, Strong fired two shots at Lindstrom. Police estimated approximately 12 people were between Strong and Lindstrom when the shots were fired.
No doubt Strong’s Tampa criminal lawyer will have to at least investigate the notion of stand your ground and a general self defense argument. In spite of the media and police report alleging that Strong is in the wrong, it is unknown what the full story is with this incident. Though the burglary for the purpose of battery allegation sets a tough tone for Strong, in this particular instance our attorneys don’t believe it will bear much on the aggravated assault allegation. If Lindstrom did in fact draw his weapon, the legality of Strong’s shots will likely depend on what happened as Lindstrom drove back by as the initial altercation had ceased. If Lindstrom drove back by Strong and Christian and appeared to raise his weapon toward them, or commented in earshot of Strong and Christian that he was going to fire on them, then an argument could be made for self defense in this case. If Lindstrom was simply trying to remove himself from the situation and Strong fired him upon him, Strong’s criminal attorney will have a difficult time proffering a believable self defense argument. As with most cases like this, if a successful self defense argument can be made for the aggravated assault charge it will likely extend to the discharge of a firearm in public charge as well. One leads to the other and if one is defensible, very likely the other is as well.
With the dust from the Trayvon Martin case barely settled, never more so than now have crimes involving the discharge of a firearm been more closely scrutinized. Whether the charges filed in cases like these are legitimate or the subject of a political point, a criminal lawyer defending one at the foot of these allegations has a heavy burden. If you’ve charged with a crime involving a firearm, contact Tampa aggravated assault attorney Jason Mayberry at 813-444-7435 or 727-771-3847.