Drunk driver shoots gun in confrontation with pedestrians in Pulaski Heights

Leon Mitchell Leathers

By Joe Johnson

A Winterville man was arrested last Thursday night after he shot a gun during a confrontation with a man and woman who were walking in a the Pulaski Heights neighborhood of Athens.

The victims told police they were walking in the 600 block of Pulaski Street when an SUV pulled up behind them and the driver, Leon Leathers, yelled for them to get out of the road.

The 52-year-old male victim said he yelled back at Leathers because he and his partner were not in the middle of the road as Leathers was claiming, according to police.

The man related how he “got sick” of Leathers continuing to honk his horn and yell, so he went up to the driver’s side window and confronted him.

After the man and woman resumed to walking, Leathers allegedly stepped on the gas and drove close by themand the man struck the SUV as it passed by.

Leathers then fired two rounds from a gun out of the vehicle window.

When located by police in a parking lot nearby, Leathers reportedly admitted to shooting his gun into the air, saying that he did it in response to the woman hitting him in the face. She denied the allegation and police found no evidence of injury to Leathers.

He also admitted to being under the influence of alcohol, according to police, and was subsequently

arrested for reckless conduct and DUI, and his pistol was confiscated.