Hawthorne Man Jailed After Firing into Neighbor’s House

HAWTHORNE ‒ Kevin Harse Pitts, 55, was arrested on Friday, Dec. 10, at his home in Hawthorne. He is charged with seven counts of possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon and one count of firing a missile into a dwelling.

An Alachua County Sheriff responded to the 6600 block of S.E. 175^th Terrace, Hawthorne, following a report of a shots fired incident. The victim said he heard the sound of four or five shots being fired and some rounds had hit his home. At least one round entered the victim’s home and struck a filing cabinet. The victim said he was inside his home at the time. The victim said the rounds sounded like they came from his neighbor’s [Pitts] yard.

According to the arrest report, when deputies arrived, the defendant met them outside. Deputies observed a gun barrel through a large hole in the defendant’s grill. Post Miranda, Pitts said he was a convicted felon and attempted to hide a .38 revolver inside the grill as law enforcement officers arrived. He denied firing the weapon. Pitts consented to a search of the grill. A large Army surplus-type of bag was inside. A barrel of a shotgun, a .38 revolver, multiple large hunting knives and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were inside. The ammunition included several different calibers, including .38 caliber.

Due to the multiple types of ammunition, deputies believed additional firearms may be inside. The defendant granted written consent to search his home. Two additional types of ammunition were found, but no additional firearms. Ammunition located included 12-gauge shotgun, 3030, .44 calibers, .22 calibers, 270 and .38 calibers.

Crime scene investigators recovered an intact bullet from the victim’s home. The bullet was the same color as the .38 caliber rounds inside the bag from the grill. Using trajectory rods it was determined that the rounds entered from the direction of Pitts’ home.

Further investigation revealed that Pitts is a convicted felon. Due to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, Pitts is being charged with seven counts of possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon and one count for the firearm and one count for each type of ammunition. In addition, he is also charged with one count of firing a deadly missile into a building.

He is currently in the Alachua County Jail. No bond has been set.

Pitts was found guilty on Nov. 2, 2021, in Putnam County on charges of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to 20 days in jail and three years of drug offender probation.

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