Crime Stoppers is a big asset to SWFL Law Enforcement
Crime Stoppers is a big asset to SWFL Law Enforcement
Andrea Melendez, Fort Myers News-Press
About eight years after a Sanibel man opened fire on a Sanibel Police officer during a traffic stop, a Lee County jury convicted him of the attempted first-degree murder.
Jon Webster Hay, 57, was convicted of three counts of attempted first-degree murder on a law enforcement officer; fleeing to elude a law enforcement officer; and shooting at or into an occupied vehicle.
Just before 8 p.m. Nov. 20, 2016, Sanibel Police officer Jarred Ciccone was sitting in his marked patrol car along Periwinkle Way filling out a report on a traffic stop when he was shot in the shoulder by someone in a passing car.
Other Sanibel Police officers quickly arrived and gathered enough information to identify the shooter as Hay. The Lee County Sheriff's Office also responded.
Sheriff's deputies located Hay's vehicle and attempted to get him to stop, but he continued to flee, driving to his home on Sandcastle Way.
As law enforcement approached, Hay, armed with an AR-15 rifle, fired more than two dozen rounds at them.
Officers were not struck by the bullets, but the patrol cars were hit. The officers returned fire and Hay was grazed by a bullet. He was then taken into custody.
When authorities searched Hay, they found a loaded semiautomatic gun in a fanny pack he was wearing. He also had extra ammunition-filled magazines for the gun, the State Attorney's Office noted in a news release.
The officer who was shot was treated at a hospital for his injuries and survived the shooting.
Hay's sentencing is Jan. 13.