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Neighbor: Shooting in defense of himself

Kenneth Allen, a former police officer in Virginia, says he was trying to thwart a potential home invasion.

By ASHLEE CLARK
Published June 7, 2006

CLEARWATER - Kenneth Allen was making himself and his wife a pot of Lipton tea Monday night when he says neighbor Jason Rosenbloom pounded on the door.

Minutes later, Pinellas County sheriff's deputies say, Rosenbloom retreated to his home next door with two gunshot wounds in his abdomen.

Allen, 58, said Tuesday he was acting in self-defense to thwart a potential home invasion when he shot Rosenbloom twice about 6:30 p.m. Monday in front of his home at 2357 Kenton Drive.

Sheriff's officials are investigating the shooting and say the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office will make a decision on whether to file any charges.

Rosenbloom, 30, was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. He was in stable condition Monday night, though the hospital had no information about his condition on Tuesday. No one responded to repeated knocks on the door at his home.

Allen, a former police officer with the state of Virginia and the city of Petersburg, Va., for 26 years, said he talked to his neighbor once about two years ago, asking Rosenbloom to move his car, which was blocking the small one-lane street in front of their houses. He said he doesn't know why a neighbor he barely knew came to his door on Monday night and tried to enter his house.

On Tuesday, Allen stood in the doorway of his home - the same spot where he had shot Rosenbloom less than 24 hours earlier - and recounted the confrontation with Rosenbloom:

Loud music from Rosenbloom's house greeted Allen when he pulled into his driveway about 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Allen didn't say anything about the noise to Rosenbloom and went inside.

About an hour and a half later, Allen heard someone beating on his front door and looked out of the yellow glass panel next to his door to see who was there.

When Allen opened the door, Rosenbloom was standing with his arms crossed and began making threats, saying, "Your life is going to be hell for the next two weeks."

The argument escalated. Allen said he told Rosenbloom to leave, but he refused. Allen closed the door and got a 9mm handgun from a room about 8 feet away.

"I figured if he sees I'm armed, he'll back off," he said.

He also told his wife to call the Sheriff's Office.

"She's so nervous, she couldn't get her cell phone to dial," he said.

Allen showed the gun to Rosenbloom and threatened to shoot him if he didn't leave.

"Shoot me then," Rosenbloom said, according to Allen.

At that point, Rosenbloom had his foot in the door and began trying to rush into the house, Allen said.

Allen said his police training kicked in, and he fired two shots at his neighbor.

"He looked at me and said, "You actually shot me,' " Allen said.

Deputies took Allen's gun, but didn't arrest him Monday.

Allen said he hopes deputies will see that he was trying to protect himself and his wife.

"I have a right to keep my house safe," he said.

The two neighbors have had a simmering dispute for at least three years, but Monday's confrontation was the first time it had turned violent.

Before that, complaints to code enforcement regarding Rosenbloom's property were virtually the only interaction the two men had, sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said.

Allen had filed three reports since 2003 against John Wagner, who owns the blue house at 1995 Meadow Drive that Rosenbloom rents, according to Pinellas County interim code enforcement director Larry Lara.

Excess garbage and debris in the yard were the subject of all the reports. The latest was filed May 25, Lara said.

On Tuesday, there was no garbage in front of Rosenbloom's house.

There were "certainly not an unusual amount" of complaints from Allen against the rental property, Lara said.

"He's hardly in the harassment area," he said.

Denise Beamer, who lives two houses down from Rosenbloom, said she never had any problems with him.

"It's a very safe neighborhood," she said. "We've never had any trouble."

Ashlee Clark can be reached at aclark@sptimes.com or 727 445-4158.

[Last modified June 7, 2006, 02:00:17]