$820K bond for man held in shot fired at officer
Leesburg police had a good description of the man suspected of taking a shot at an officer this week — from the cellphone he left behind, according to an arrest report.
The cellphone contained an image of a man wearing sunglasses and smoking a cigar, with a skull tattoo on his neck. During a search after the shooting Monday night, an officer spoke with a woman who knew a man with a skull tattoo on his neck and that he was at a rooming house on Line Street, the report said.
As police approached the house about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, the suspect — ex-con Jonathan Nadre Harris, 24 — left the residence and was detained as a person of interest without incident, the report said. That evening, he was arrested on a charge of attempted murder of a law-enforcement officer. On Thursday, he made his first appearance in court; a judge set bond at $820,000.
Police said Officer Travonte Kitchen was shot at when he stopped a man on a bicycle late Monday. The bicyclist was stopped on U.S. Highway 441, north of Shore Acres Drive by Lake Avenue, because he didn’t have a working tail light, police said.
Kitchen asked the man, who was still straddling his bike in the grass to put his hands up, according to a report. The officer’s dash-cam video shows the man initially raised his hands before dropping them to his side. When he raised his hands again, he kept his right hand down and in his hoodie. A moment later, he took a quick step onto the pavement, turned around and fired at least one shot in the vehicle’s direction. The shot pierced the car’s windshield. The man then sprinted away, leaving behind a cloud of gun smoke.
“Shots fired Leesburg!” Kitchen said into the radio. “He’s holding up like he’s got a gun!”
The officer returned fire and chased the man down Lake Avenue but couldn’t find him. The bicycle was found at the scene along with the man’s cellphone, the report said. A search warrant was obtained for the phone’s data. The homescreen contained a photo of the suspect, but the phone was password-protected; it was sent in for further digital analysis, the report said.
On Thursday afternoon, detectives recovered the handgun they think Harris fired, Leesburg Police Lt. Joe Iozzi said. Ballistics tests will confirm if it’s the gun, he said.
Kitchen “made statements to the effect that he felt uneasy about the encounter at the onset, and that the actions of the suspect had placed the officer in a great and wellfounded fear for his life,” according to the arrest report.
“Officer Kitchen is doing well, and we can’t speak highly enough of the community support he’s received,” Iozzi said. “We would also like to commend the diligent work of our detectives in the expeditious and safe capture of this violent felony offender.”
Harris was released from state prison Oct. 14 after serving five months for burglary of a dwelling and grand theft, according to the state Department of Corrections website. He faces other charges, including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.