Three Teens, One Bat Loses to One Senior, One Gun

In an attempted home invasion, the house's owner Jack Crawford, 72, defended himself with his handgun against three teenagers, Earl Bernard, 15, Nathaniel Nichols, 17 and Curtis Crenshaw, 18, that wielded a bat against him, as reported by WTSP Channel 10 news and the Pensacola News Journal.

Two of the boys, Crenshaw and Nichols, were shot in their torsos by Crawford, and later apprehended at a local hospital where they had been dropped off for wound care.

The incident occurred in the 3300 block of Raines Street in Ferry Pass at approximately 8:45 p.m. on Saturday, January 29, 2011.

Crawford said that after he reached his door, "I opened it up, and he hit me right off. ... Wham! Split my head open."

The teens had attacked Ferry with an aluminum bat.  Crawford then reported, "So I shot him and another guy.  I could have shot the third one, but I would have had to shoot him in the back as he ran away."

While the three young men made their getaway on foot, Crawford's 70-year-old sister called the police.

The third boy, that was unharmed and not found at the hospital, was arrested at a rental home nearby.  Nichols was still in the hospital as of January 30, while Crenshaw was released after being treated but held on a $300,000 bond at Escambia County Jail. 

Per the Pensacola Police Department, all three have been charged with home-invasion robbery and aggravated battery.  Bill Eddins, the State Attorney, plans on trying all three suspects as adults.

Crawford recounted that due to the late hour he picked up his handgun, and held it close to his side, just as a precaution.  He said, "At 9 o'clock at night, I never take any chances."

All three teens, per Crawford, wore "hoods and scarves" to cover their faces.  Before anyone uttered a word the bat had come down on Crawford's skull causing him to stumble, but not to fall, back into the home.

That was when he automatically started shooting at the suspects.  Since he "didn't go down" Crawford believes that the gun "shocked" the first attacker.

After the attack, Crawford was taken by ambulance to West Florida Hospital to tend to his head injury.  He was back at his home by Sunday, January 30, 2011, with just a few staples in his scalp. 

Crawford, living in the same neighborhood for approximately 12 years, didn't recognize any of the teens but presumed that they may have been friends of a neighborhood boy that he had employed in the past to help him around his house. 

Of the attack, Crawford explained that he'd had a past that prepared him for situations like this.  He said "I'm not that big of a boy, but I had a reputation." 

He continues to reside in the home, unafraid of any future attacks.

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