Sep 7, 2003 By Angie Santello 2 min read

Uniontown police Saturday arrested two teens and charged them with shooting a Connellsville man in the back. Vernon Pratt, 19, of Collins Ave., Uniontown, was arraigned Saturday night before District Justice Brenda Cavalcante, while a 14-year-old Grant Street boy was turned over to the custody of juvenile authorities.

Uniontown police alleged the pair held 20-year-old Jared M. Callahan at gunpoint in a Clark Street alley and then shot him in the upper back.

Pratt was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, carrying a firearm without a license, criminal attempt robbery of a motor vehicle and criminal conspiracy.

Uniontown police detective Phillip Jones said Pratt recently moved to Uniontown from Cleveland, Ohio, and was out of prison on a $750,000 bond for an aggravated robbery charge.

City police responded to the Clark Street scene after a resident called in with a complaint, saying a man was lying in the street.

When police arrived at 11:06 p.m., they found Callahan, who

was leaning partially out of his vehicle with a single bullet hole in his back.

Police said Callahan told them two males attempted to take his vehicle, and when he attempted to pull away, one of them shot him. Jones said Callahan was in stable condition Saturday afternoon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

“We are unsure whether he is going to undergo surgery,” said Jones. “He is heavily sedated now.”

At the scene, Callahan was “conscious, alert, oriented and had feeling and movement in all of his extremities,” according to the police report.

Police cared for Callahan until emergency crews arrived.

Callahan was taken to Uniontown Hospital and then flown to UPMC.