Vietnam veteran quick to draw; man shot in Clearwater

Vietnam veteran quick to draw; man shot in Clearwater
By Jonathan Abel, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
CLEARWATER — Lester E. Rollins Jr. told a court psychologist many years ago that he had learned an important lesson in Vietnam: Never let anyone harm or kill you.

In the four decades since he returned from the war, Rollins has pulled the trigger on three people — four if you count Tuesday morning.

Early Tuesday, about 4:45 a.m., as the 58-year-old tells it, he was sitting in the garage of his house at 902 Pennsylvania Ave. smoking and reading the paper as usual.

Alexander Stephen, 21, walked up to him and broke the quiet solitude of the morning by asking Rollins for a light. "I said, 'Give you a light? What the hell are you talking about, I haven't got a light, man, at this time in the morning,' " Rollins said in an interview with Bay News 9.

Then, Rollins said, Stephen grew belligerent and poked him in the chest with his finger. Rollins said Stephen spotted a pistol next to him and threatened Rollins, saying he would be back the next morning.

"I said 'no you won't because I'm going to take care of you right now,' " according to Rollins, "and then I shot him." He said he used his .38-caliber revolver in self-defense to ward off a robbery and protect his wife inside. After the shooting, he called 911.
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