Holly and Jeremy Hardy
Local news reports
Jeremy Hardy, 32, and Hollie Hardy, 35, were arrested Wednesday and both charged with culpable negligence, according to South Daytona police reports. The couple were attending the Sprint Unlimited race Feb. 15 at the Daytona International Speedway while their 13-year-old son and his friend, also 13, were home baby-sitting the shooter’s 3-year-old brother at the family’s Lemon Road residence, according to the reports. Police said the Hardy parents left four loaded firearms in the home where they were accessible to the children. The friend asked the Hardy’s teen son what he would do if someone tried to steal his parent’s car, which is when the Hardy’s son grabbed a .22-caliber rifle from a mounted gun rack and began waving it around, according to the reports. The friend asked if the gun was real and that’s when the Hardy’s son cocked the forend back and accidentally struck his friend’s elbow with a round, according to the reports. The friend was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando for surgery.