TAMPA — An argument last weekend over a dirt bike turned into a running gunbattle through traffic, according to Tampa police. It ended with one man being shot three times and another arrested on Thursday.
The shooting, which happened Sunday night outside a Citgo gas station at 4511 E Hillsborough Ave., is part of a surge in gun violence the city has seen this year.
Levontae Cottman, 22, who has a lengthy criminal record, faces an attempted murder charge.
A few minutes before 10 p.m. Sunday, Cottman was at the Citgo station, where he argued with Quinton Carrolls, 22, over a dirt bike that was borrowed but not returned, according to a Tampa police report. Cottman "became enraged," pulled out a black pistol, the report said, and started shooting at Carrolls.
Carrolls ran north, dashing through traffic on Hillsborough Avenue as Cottman kept shooting, police said. Bullets pierced his right ankle, thigh and buttocks. When he reached the parking lot of a shopping center, Carrolls drew his own gun and fired four shots back at Cottman before his gun jammed, police said.
Cottman ran north on 47th Street, where a car stopped and the driver picked him up, police said. The car then sped away. Carrolls was taken to Tampa General Hospital.
Investigators later obtained a warrant charging Cottman with attempted second-degree murder. At the time of the shooting, he was already wanted on domestic violence charges stemming from a June 1 case in which Hillsborough sheriff's deputies said he choked his girlfriend and threw a chair at his sister.
Cottman's state arrest record stretches back to his early teens. It includes arrests for charges of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and shooting into a building.
In 2010, he was jailed after he fired more than 10 gunshots at a woman's house after an argument, according to police records. Subsequent probation violations landed him in prison in 2013.
On Thursday afternoon, Cottman turned himself in at the Hillsborough County courthouse. He was later booked into jail and held without bail.
The shooting is the latest in a recent string of gun violence in Tampa, where city leaders have noted a marked increase in crime from previous years.
The number of gun crimes in the city this year is a third greater than last year over the same period. That includes an official tally of 18 homicides, 12 of which remain open with no arrest. Four of the victims were teens.
In an effort to curb the trend, police and city leaders have organized marches through the poor inner-city neighborhoods where much of the crime has been concentrated. The city has also extended the summer operating hours for local recreation centers and swimming pools.
A police-sponsored "gun buyback, scheduled for today in River Tower Park, aims to take as many as 1,000 guns off the street.
Contact Dan Sullivan at dsullivan@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3386. Follow @TimesDan.