The 25-year-old driver of a car whose passenger fired at a crowd of Columbia teen-agers in May, injuring three, was found not guilty yesterday of being an accessory after the fact to the shooting.

Howard Circuit Judge James B. Dudley said he had no doubt that Teon Nicholson "knew what was going to happen" when he drove the car to Daystar Court on May 14, but Nicholson's actions after the shooting may not have been designed to help the gunman, Derek T. Powell, escape.

"In this case, the evidence is equally compelling that Nicholson hightailed it out of there for his own hide," Dudley said. " ... That's not a crime. It should be, but it's not."

Nicholson's friends and family let out a loud whoosh at Dudley's verdict.

Later, the Laurel man's father said his son has never "been a serious problem to me."

"If Teon had done something like that, I wouldn't spend money to keep him out of jail," Wilbert Nicholson said. "I said, 'I've just got to stay behind him 110 percent.'"

Teon Nicholson had been charged with 19 counts, including attempted murder and assault, in the case, but prosecutors agreed to pursue just the accessory charge in return for the Laurel man's testimony at Powell's trial last month.

Powell was convicted of felony assault, reckless endangerment and handgun charges related to the shooting. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Howard Circuit Judge Dennis M. Sweeney on Feb. 7.

Yesterday, Nicholson, of the 900 block of Fifth St., pleaded not guilty to the accessory charge but did not request a trial, opting instead to allow prosecutors to read an agreed statement of facts about the case into the record.

Although Nicholson drove from Wilde Lake High School, where his cousin and Powell had sparred with a group of teen-agers, to Daystar Court, where the same group of youths was hanging out, prosecutors have no "direct" evidence that Nicholson knew Powell had a gun, Assistant State's Attorney Brendan Clary said.

Nicholson has said he did not know about the gun until Powell started firing at the crowd, hitting three of the teen-agers, Clary said. Another bullet passed through a fourth youth's pants leg, Clary said.

After the shooting, Nicholson drove from Daystar Court with his cousin Phillip Nicholson and Powell, heading to his girlfriend's house in Silver Spring - a 20-minute drive. He gave his cousin the car keys and stayed behind when the two men drove off.

Phillip Nicholson was initially arrested in the case, but prosecutors dropped all charges against him in June, saying they could not prove "criminal conduct" against him.

Clary argued yesterday that Teon Nicholson helped Powell after the shooting, fleeing the scene to avoid police. The fact that he drove so far allowed Powell to escape arrest, Clary said.

"The crime begins once he starts driving away," Clary said. " ... He spirited Mr. Powell from the scene."

But Nicholson's lawyer, Arthur Frank, argued that it made no sense to think that Nicholson would throw Powell, who still had the gun in his lap, out of his car at the scene or drive him to a police station. Instead, he said, Nicholson drove himself to where he knew he would be safe but didn't let Powell stay there.

"This is only the case of one's merely being present at the scene of the crime," Frank said.