Life Imitates Art for 'Hood' Video Producer

Oct. 16, 2007 — -- A Florida video producer charged last week with four counts of attempted murder says that police targeted him because of a DVD he hosted that graphically portrays the community's gangster underbelly.

Allan Burney, 19, is co-host and producer of "Da Hood Gone Wild," a documentary-style film that features life in North Greenwood, Fla., a low-income, largely black Clearwater neighborhood.

The video, available online, is described as one of the "craziest" you will ever see. "Go deep into the hood at night, when things get bad, REAL BAD," a promotion reads on "Da Hood Gone Wild" Web site. "Fights, cops, whipz (sic), and lets (sic) not forget some of the baddest hoes around." The previews posted include shots of fights, wads of cash, drugs and tricked-out cars.

But now Burney's life is imitating his art — he claims that the film flaunting an often dangerous and illegal lifestyle in his neighborhood made him a target for police.

Burney surrendered to police in Clearwater Thursday. The attempted-murder charges stem from an Oct. 8 shooting that left a 23-year-old man dead, another injured and forced area schools into lockdown. Another 19-year-old, Gaylord Shaw, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Clearwater police say that witnesses and victims "positively identified" Burney as one of the shooters who opened fire on a car as it drove away from a convenience store where an argument had taken place. The car veered, crashing into a pole. Michael Scott was at the wheel and was hit during the shooting, police say, and he was also injured in the car crash. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Clearwater police describe the fatal shooting as a result of an ongoing feud between two groups. But Burney, who now sits in the Pinellas County Jail on $400,000 bond, claims that he was inside a house near the scene of the fatal shooting.

"It seems as if Allan has become the popular scapegoat for the Clearwater Police Department regarding any crime in Greenwood," a representative of "Da Hood Gone Wild" wrote in an e-mail to ABC News.

"Because Allan is trying to shed light on such a polarizing subject through 'Da Hood Gone Wild' DVD and Web site, he is being discriminated against," the statement continued. "Anytime there is a disturbance in Greenwood, the Clearwater Police Department conveniently target Allan because of his celebrity."

The filmmakers say that this is the second time in as many months that Burney has been wrongly targeted by police because of his controversial film, which they argue "was intended to shed light on a serious problem that exists throughout this country of ours."

Clearwater Police Chief Sid Klein, who has said the "Da Hood Gone Wild" overdramatizes the city's lifestyle, told the St. Petersburg Times that Burney's alleged involvement in the high-profile shooting is "ironic" given his documentation of the city's violence.

Shown the statement from the "Da Hood Gone Wild" producers suggesting that Burney is simply a scapegoat for police because of the video, Elizabeth Daly-Watts, the department spokeswoman, responded flatly, "Mr. Burney will get his day in court."