2 arrested after shots fired during whiskey theft altercation at Port Charlotte gas station

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — When Joshua Ballington entered a Circle K gas station in Port Charlotte early Friday morning, he sensed something was amiss.

The cashier confirmed Ballington’s intuitions. She told him a teen had just stolen two “Flash Point” whiskey bottles and left the store. Shortly after, she went to the parking lot and confronted the teen and others in an SUV, demanding they return the alcohol. With no luck, she went back inside.

Ballington, however, had no intentions of coming back empty-handed. He assured the clerk he would get the stolen booze back and walked out of the store.

According to a report from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, he approached the SUV and opened the driver’s door while yelling at the teens for stealing the alcohol. The culprit gave Ballington the bottles and he returned them to the store.

Ballington, 39, had undoubtedly prevented the crime, but he wanted to make sure the teens learned their lesson.

Leaving the store for a second time, he began scolding the teens about their wrongdoings. One of the teens in the back of the vehicle was quite amused by the lecturing.

Ballington told the boy to wipe the smirk off his face. When he refused, Ballington opened the back door and began punching him in the face. Hoping to put an end to the attack, the driver of the SUV, 18-year-old Landan Walters, hopped out of the vehicle, fired two gunshots into the air and began chasing Ballington away from the vehicle.

At around 2:11 a.m., deputies responded to the shooting altercation at the gas station. The teens and Ballington were detained and interviewed. Deputies obtained security camera video from the Circle K and the footage corresponded with statements from the teens about the attack, CCSO said.

Ballington was arrested and charged with burglary and child abuse. Walters was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and contributing to child delinquency.

The teen victim suffered a split lip and a bruise to the right side of his face. He reportedly declined medical treatment.