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State attorney: No charges for stray bullets hitting Lithia house

 
Published Feb. 25, 2015

TAMPA — The Hillsborough County firefighter and sheriff's deputy at the center of a target-shooting incident in Lithia last month will not be prosecuted.

In a Feb. 19 letter, Hillsborough Assistant State Attorney Christopher Moody told Sheriff's Maj. Robert Ura, the head of criminal investigations, that not enough evidence exists to level charges after several bullets hit landscaper Dawn Bryan's house on Jan. 24.

Firefighter Scott Radford set up a berm behind his house for target practice and invited several friends that morning, including Sheriff's Deputy Paul Adee, son of Sheriff's Maj. Paul Adee. The group took turns firing AK-47 and AR-15 rifles and handguns.

Several rounds struck Bryan's house and pool enclosure 300 yards away, including one that shattered a window in her baby's room and came within inches of hitting Bryan.

As Bryan called 911, her boyfriend, Bret Showalter, 45, showed up at Radford's house to implore them to stop firing.

Deputies investigated, interviewing witnesses and collecting bullets, and the state attorney's office reviewed the deputies' findings, but couldn't establish which of the eight men firing the weapons was responsible for the stray rounds.

"There were numerous people and numerous guns being fired," said Mark Cox, spokesman for Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober.

State law allows firing guns in residential areas provided they're not discharged "recklessly or negligently," nor over a public right of way, such as a street.

Bryan said Radford apologized and promised to pay for damages, but she hasn't seen any payments so far, she said. Showalter estimated the repairs at $4,000.

"We haven't gotten a lawyer. We were kind of hoping he would do the right thing," said Bryan, who has 11 children, including several adopted, at home.

"My kids won't even play in the yard," she said. "They're scared."

Efforts to reach Radford on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Contact Rich Shopes at rshopes@tampabay.com or (813) 225-3110. Follow @richshopes.