Class of 2022 South Carolina football commit Jy’Vonte McClendon is facing felony charges related to a road rage incident that took place in Florida.
McClendon was arrested by the Lakeland Police Department on Nov. 28 and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill, according to The State. He was released from jail on Dec. 1.
According to an incident report from the Lakeland Police Department, a “brief verbal altercation” occurred when a parked car of an unidentified woman blocked a car driven by McClendon’s mother. The owner of the parked car was delivering food to her grandmother, according to the police.
McClendon, who was a passenger in his mother’s car, “retrieved a semi-automatic handgun from his mother’s bag in the back seat” after the woman got into her car and attempted to drive away following the argument. McClendon then “shot one round into the front of the windshield, which struck directly in front of the victim, who was still seated in the driver seat.”
McClendon told police that he believed the woman was “attempting to strike his mother with her vehicle” and only fired the weapon as a means of scaring the woman off.
The charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill is a class three felony in Florida. Shooting into an occupied vehicle is classified as a second-degree felony and is punishable by a maximum of 15 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000.
McClendon is not expected to be part of South Carolina’s 2022 signing class when the Early Signing Period begins on Wednesday.
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