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Shots fired; no one injured in standoff

A six-hour confrontation ends when the gunman tries to flee.

By LORRI HELFAND, Times Staff Writer
Published December 31, 2007

Todd M. Clark, of Seminole, is taken for medical evaluation Sunday after he was caught by deputies at a home east of where the standoff occurred. A sheriff's SWAT team caught Clark after he jumped from a second-story window and fled.
	[Douglas R. Clifford | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT Todd M. Clark, 30, was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder on a law enforcement officer.

SEMINOLE - John Jennings thought neighbors were setting off fireworks when he awoke to the crackle of gunfire before 3 a.m. Sunday.

Then, his girlfriend noticed shadows on the bedroom wall.

He got dressed and started to walk out his back door to investigate, where he ran into a sheriff's deputy.

"He told me to go back in and shut the door," Jennings said.

That was the beginning of a six-hour standoff between authorities and a resident in the normally quiet Park Boulevard neighborhood, east of Oakhurst Road.

Hours later, Todd M. Clark, 30, was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder on a law enforcement officer, after twice trading gunfire with Pinellas County deputies.

No one was injured, authorities say. Based on an interview with Clark, detectives say he was under the influence of marijuana and several prescription drugs.

"We're just glad no one was hurt," said Clark's stepfather, John Thompson, 57, who owns the home at 13537 Park Blvd. and was vacationing 180 miles north in Steinhatchee when contacted by authorities early Sunday.

Clark had no criminal record with the Sheriff's Office and records show deputies have not responded to the address before. Thompson, who rushed back to town Sunday morning, said he was shocked to hear Clark was involved in something like this.

"It's very strange," he said later Sunday. "It's not like him at all."

The tense situation began around 2:42 a.m. Sunday when deputies responded to a 911 hangup. Deputies think Clark, who was home alone, made the call.

Deputies met Clark outside of his home. They had a conversation with him before he ran inside. Deputies followed him to the door. Clark fired gunshots at them. Deputies returned fire and then retreated.

The Sheriff's Office SWAT team arrived. By about 5:15 a.m., SWAT negotiators were trying to contact Clark with "mixed results," said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Marianne Pasha.

Just after 8:30 a.m., SWAT members drove a sheriff's armored rescue vehicle onto Clark's front yard.

Clark fled the home through a second-floor window, jumped down to a lower roof and then to the ground. He ran to the yard east of his own and then fired on deputies again. A deputy returned fire, Pasha said.

Around that time, another neighbor, Lloyd O'Bannon, 58, went into his back yard. He saw a SWAT member there and heard another in the brush, he said. He then heard a "bang," and "boom" followed by another loud "bang." "It happened so quick, before I had a chance to react," said O'Bannon, who slept through the first round of gunfire.

Clark was ordered to the ground and was apprehended. Deputies recovered a small caliber handgun.

Detectives are investigating the incident. Shooting elements of the case will be reviewed by the Sheriff's Shooting Review Board and Administrative Investigations, Pasha said.

Clark was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation and later booked at the Pinellas County Jail.

[Last modified December 30, 2007, 20:17:23]