Man, 79, Points Gun At 4 Road Workers Over Dog Poop Dispute: Deputies

SEMINOLE, FL — A 79-year-old Largo man faces four counts of aggravated assault following a Thursday morning dispute with four road workers in Seminole.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, the incident unfolded around 8:20 a.m. Dec. 29 at the intersection of 109th Avenue and County Road 296. Deputies say four contracted road workers contacted them about an older man in a Ford Explorer that they say drove up to them, got out of his vehicle and pointed a gun in their direction.

“According to the victims, the man brandished a black handgun with a laser pointer and pointed the laser at the workers’ heads threatening to shoot them,” an email from the agency said. “The workers took cover behind their vehicles and called 911.”

When deputies began investigating the occurrence, they learned that the elderly man was “upset because one of the contract workers verbally confronted the suspect’s wife a few minutes prior for not picking up her dog’s waste after her dog defecated in the field nearby.”

Deputies began canvassing the area for the Ford Explorer and the man. They located Nicholas Belmonte at his home in the 11600 block of Tradewinds Boulevard North, the email said.

“Deputies recovered the laser equipped .32 mm handgun that was still in Belmonte's possession,” the email said. “Belmonte admitted to the allegations claiming that he was trying to intimidate and scare the workers for upsetting his wife.”

Belmonte was charged with four counts of aggravated assault. Belmonte was released from the Pinellas County jail after posting $20,000 bond, jail records indicate.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office