Three arrested after shots fired during robbery near Clearwater

CLEARWATER — Three Orlando men were booked into the Pinellas County Jail following what authorities say was a botched robbery Saturday night.

Authorities said the incident unfolded just after 8 p.m. in the 1900 block of Temple Terrace, off Belcher Road. They say that's when Aaron John Avery, 23, John Christopher Daies, 25, and Gary Terrell Thames, 28, approached two men outside a home.

While speaking to the men about a motorcycle, arrest reports show, Avery pulled a .40-caliber gun and ordered the men to the ground. Avery reached into the victims' pockets and took a cellphone from one and a wallet from the other, the report said. He also intended to leave with the motorcycle.

But a struggle over the gun broke out, authorities said, and Avery fired twice.

Pinellas County deputies arrested Avery and his accomplices. They were charged with two counts each of robbery with a deadly weapon. Avery also faces two counts of aggravated assault.