TAMPA - An 18-year-old man who turned himself in to authorities Tuesday in connection with a March pellet gun shooting was being questioned Tuesday about whether he was involved in a recent spate of pellet gun attacks in South Tampa.
Mark Dempsey turned himself in to Tampa police and was charged with aggravated battery and criminal mischief in the March 22 pellet gun shooting of 41-year-old Toby Cole, police said.
Cole of 3313 W Wallace Ave. was shot in his left arm, police said. The back window of his truck was shot out.
Police said they were questioning Dempsey on Tuesday night about the pellet gun attacks in South Tampa. Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said Dempsey has told investigators he was present during a pellet gun shooting a month ago, but did not fire the shots.
Early Monday, someone in a dark-colored Ford Explorer with tan trim drove up to the Bern's parking lot at S Howard and Mississippi avenues and shot at two people. One of the victims escaped unscathed, but the other was left with a welt on his back, according to a Tampa police report.
Windows of several vehicles were shot out, and windows of a business on Bay to Bay Boulevard were broken. At 3 a.m. Monday, police discovered that windows of several vehicles at a retirement center at 1080 S Clearview Ave. were broken.
Dempsey was expected to be transferred to jail late Tuesday. Dempsey, of 3206 W Ballast Point Blvd., was arrested in November and charged with felony battery, according to Hillsborough County jail records.
