HUDSON — A couple walking out of Rosie's Bar on U.S. 19 early Wednesday morning were attacked by a man wielding a gun and a baton, a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report says.
It was unclear what prompted the assault.
The man followed the couple, who were not identified in the report, out of the bar at 13330 U.S. 19 about 12:20 a.m. In the parking lot, he began chasing the man as the woman got into her car.
Then he went after her.
The report says that when she told him she was going to call 911, he reached into the car and took her phone, snapping it in half. He slapped her in the face, then pulled out an expandable baton and smashed the car's windshield.
At that point, the male victim came back to try to protect his wife, and the suspect went after him with the baton, the report says.
As the man was running away, the report says, he looked back and saw the suspect fire a gun toward him, then drive off.
A deputy responding to the scene saw the suspect in his car, running a red light, and pulled him over. The report says the man acknowledged being at the bar but denied being in any scuffles.
But the couple and another witness took a look at the driver and identified him as the attacker. The deputy searched the car, the report says, and found a revolver and a bullet casing in the cup holder.
The suspect was identified as Gerald Fredolen Padot Jr., 47, of 10607 Kitten Trail in Hudson.
He faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary with assault or battery and criminal mischief. He remained in the Pasco County Jail in Land O'Lakes on Wednesday with bail set at $155,150.
Molly Moorhead can be reached at moorhead@sptimes.com or (727) 869-6245.
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