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Man Accidentally Shoots Self with Stolen Gun While Fleeing, Pinellas Deputies Say

Matthew Lukine Brown | Pinellas Sheriff | Arrests

He was driving recklessly, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

PINELLAS COUNTY – A St. Petersburg man accidentally shot himself while trying to discard a stolen handgun, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said.

Matthew Lukine Brown, 23, of St. Petersburg, was charged with fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, and grand theft of a firearm.

Deputies said the incident began about 12:15 this morning (Nov. 29) n the area of 26th Avenue S and 13th Street where members of the county’s violent crimes task force said they saw a 2011 Honda Accord operating in a reckless manner. The car was traveling through residential neighborhoods at a high rate of speed with the headlights off. It was not stopping for stop signs or a traffic light.

VCTF members successfully deployed a tire-deflation device, then tried to conduct a traffic stop on the car but it fled at a high rate of speed. Without pursuing the Honda, a VCTF member conducting surveillance said he saw a bright flash and heard a sound similar to a gunshot from inside the car. The driver, later identified as Brown, threw what appeared to be a handgun out of the car.

VCTF members were able to successfully use a precision immobilization technique on the Honda at about 22nd Avenue S and 22nd Street and to take Brown into custody.

Deputies said that Brown accidentally shot himself in the right thigh while trying to discard the handgun. They found the gun and learned it had been reported stolen from a vehicle in the city of Largo. The Largo Police Department was notified that the gun was recovered.

Brown was taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg with non-life threatening injuries. Brown was released after treatment and taken to the Pinellas County Jail. B

The VCTF is a countywide, multi-jurisdictional task force that focuses on violent crime in Pinellas County. The task force is comprised of law enforcement officers from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, and the St. Petersburg and Clearwater Police departments.

For information about the Pinellas sheriff, go to pcsoweb.com.

Pinellas Sheriff | Crime | Grand Theft | Arrests | Tampabay News

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