- A Florida judge has revoked the bail of a man who shot a teenager who was driving an all-terrain vehicle near his home.
- Michael Regalski faces charges of premeditated manslaughter, aggravated assault, shooting at a vehicle and tampering with evidence.
- Regalski said in court that he only wanted to scare teenagers, according to the Citrus County Chronicle.
A 65 year old man who shot a teenager for driving a utility vehicle on his property is no longer on the streets after a judge revoked his bond Friday.
Citrus County Judge Joel Fritton revoked Michael Regalski’s bond after finding Regalski complied with a Florida statute that requires his bond be denied, according to The Citrus County Chronicle. Regalski was released after posting $65,000 bail, according to the newspaper.
Florida law says that people facing charges related to a “dangerous crime,” a felony carrying a life sentence, or a capital felony cannot receive bail.
Prosecutors say Regalski shot three teenagers driving an SUV near his home in Citrus Hills, Florida, on April 22, hitting one of them in the stomach, the newspaper reported.
Regalski said during the hearing that he just wanted to scare teenagers and that the shooting was an accident, according to the outlet.
He faces charges of premeditated attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, firing on a vehicle and tampering with evidence.
Assistant State’s Attorney Kaitlyn Mannis argued that Regalski’s actions showed a disregard for the safety of the community in court on Friday, The Chronicle reported.
Fritton said in his ruling that most people would put up no trespassing signs or call 911 if they didn’t want people driving ATVs on their property, according to the outlet.
“This was not a matter of life and death until Mr. Regalski made it one,” Fritton said in court.
A Citrus County sheriff’s detective, Rosco Watts, said during the hearing that Regalski’s story about the shooting was inconsistent and that he changed his clothes and deleted the footage from his home’s security camera after it happened, he reported. The Chronicle.
The Citrus Hills shooting follows a series of other shootings in which men opened fire on others simply for walking or driving on or near their property in recent weeks.
On April 13, Andrew Lester, 85, shot Ralph Yarla 16-year-old black teenager when he accidentally went to Lester’s door to try to pick up his younger twin brothers in Kansas City, according to police.
Just two days after Yarl’s shooting, Kevin Monahan, 65, shot and killed 20 years old kaylin gillis when she and her friends accidentally walked into Monohan’s driveway while looking for a friend’s house.
On the same day as the Gillis shooting, a man in Florida shot two teenagers who were delivering groceries for Instacart. Police ultimately decided not to charge the shooter in that case.
And then on April 18 in Elgin, Texas, police said 25-year-old Pedro Tello Rodríguez Jr. shot two cheerleaders who accidentally got into his car by mistake, seriously injuring them both.
