Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Quarreling co-owners end up in jail

A Largo car and bike shop is the start line for a chase with bats, a gun and an SUV, police say.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published December 14, 2005

LARGO - The three men met at the car and motorcycle shop to settle their dispute in person, authorities said.

Shortly before 7 p.m. Monday, James Darrell Parks, 31, pulled up to the shop, D & E Custom Hobbies at 500 Seminole Blvd., which he opened about four months ago, said his wife, Angela. He came with a longtime friend, Jeffrey Todd Sullivan, 27.

They went to confront Erik Kelecseny, 30, a part owner of the shop who had agreed to meet the men and settle an argument, Angela Parks said.

Parks and Kelecseny had an ongoing disagreement over the running of the shop, which customizes motorcycles and cars, she said.

They got out of the GMC Yukon carrying baseball bats, Largo police Sgt. Mark Young said.

After seeing they had bats, Kelecseny went to his car and pulled out a handgun, Young said.

Parks dropped his bat.

"You win," he told Kelecseny, according to his statement to police.

Parks and Sullivan then retreated to the sport utility vehicle as Kelecseny followed them with the gun, Young said.

Parks jumped behind the wheel of the Yukon and, in an attempt to escape, crashed into Kelecseny's car and through a fence into a residential neighborhood.

He struck two mailboxes along the way, reports state.

No shots were fired and no one was injured, police said.

Parks was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery and reckless driving. He was being held in the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $30,500 bail. Sullivan, who faces a charge of aggravated assault, remained in jail on $5,000 bail.

Kelecseny, meanwhile, was charged with felonious possession of a firearm and released after posting $10,000 bail. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Parks and Kelecseny had not known each other long, Angela Parks said. "What you've got is two personalities that clash and they can't run the business together," she said.

[Last modified December 14, 2005, 00:15:15]