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Letter to the editor

DVD maker held in shooting

The 'Da Hood Gone Wild' creator faces attempted murder charges.

By JONATHAN ABEL and DEMORRIS A. LEE, Times Staff Writers
Published October 13, 2007

Allan Burney proclaims his innocence of four counts of attempted murder during a video interview from the Pinellas County Jail.
	[Jim Damaske | Times]

Now the Clearwater 19-year-oldis accused of taking part in the same underworld acts he captured on film.

Burney was charged late Thursday night with four counts of attempted murder in a bizarre shooting Monday that caused a car wreck, took the life of 23-year-old Michael Scott and wounded his brother.

The shooting took place about 12:45 p.m. at N Betty Lane and Springdale Street. Police say two groups feuding for several weeks got into a fight in a convenience store parking lot.

According to arrest affidavits, witnesses saw Burney fire several shots at a gold Dodge Intrepid carrying four people.

Burney is being held in lieu of $400,000 bail at the Pinellas County jail.

In a jailhouse interview Friday, Burney said he played no part in the incident and doesn't even own a gun.

He said he was at N Betty Lane and Springdale Street but was inside a house babysitting for his nephew. By the time he came outside, the car was gone.

"I was in the worst place at the wrong time," Burney said. "This is an example of innocent people getting locked up. The only thing that can help me is the court."

Police already have charged Gaylord Shaw, 19, with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder. They say Shaw shot into the car, hitting Scott in the chest and knee. Burney said he was friends with Shaw but not involved in the feud.

Burney's arrest came the same day as a St. Petersburg Times article profiling Da Hood Gone Wild, a montage of street brawls, drug deals, naked girls and cars cruising in the North Greenwood neighborhood of Clearwater. The DVD shows drug dealers, users and police mixing it up in graphic and arresting ways and portrays the city of Clearwater in an unflattering light.

The timing of Burney's arrest stunned many people in the neighborhood on Friday.

"I'm speechless. I don't know what else to say," said Kyronnie Chase, 28, who is shown in the DVD trying to keep a man from being stomped. "I'm hurt. I'm truly hurt."

Others shook their heads at what they saw as a police attempt to intimidate Burney.

Meanwhile, the DVD's popularity soared Thursday and Friday. People from as far away as Tampa and St. Petersburg came looking for a copy of the DVD, said Ali Akar, co-owner of Freddy's T-Shirts and Urban Unit on N Betty Lane.

His store has sold out of Burney's DVD and he is trying to get more.

"I wouldn't picture him doing anything like this," Akar said. "He's got a lot going for him with the video."

Meanwhile, at headquarters across town, Clearwater police Chief Sid Klein acknowledged the life-imitates-art connection between Burney's video and his arrest. Klein said evidence will support that Burney was involved in the shooting.

"It's kind of ironic that a person documenting such violence, sex and everything else would be involved in a shooting," he said.

According to Burney, when he found out police wanted to talk with him, he had his mother drive him to the police station for an interrogation.

Cortez Hearns, the co-creator of the DVD, said this isn't the first time police have come looking for them in the wake of a crime.

After a homicide outside a party this summer, a police detective flew to Missouri, where Hearns is attending college, to take whatever footage Hearns had of the party.

Hearns said he talked to Burney on Thursday night before the arrest.

"I told him to tell me the truth," Hearns said. "We are real with each other. We tell each other everything. And he told me he didn't do it. He would have told me."

For his part, Burney said he's not sure why anyone told police he was involved, but he thinks lots of people recognize him because of his camera.

Burney said he didn't know if his arrest was an attempt to punish him for showing the city in a bad light.

"It's a bigger picture than I can see right now," he said. "But the truth gonna come out."

Staff writer Jose Cardenas contributed to this report. Jonathan Abel can be reached at jabel@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4157. Demorris A. Lee can be reached at demoalee@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4174.

[Last modified October 13, 2007, 02:00:58]