Buddy won't leave, ends up shot in arm

A man fires a shot through his a door when his a drinking buddy won't go away, authorities say. The jailed man says he never meant to shoot his friend.

By ROBERT FARLEY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 19, 2002

TARPON SPRINGS -- Police doubted the story from the start.

The blood stains on the cement walkway, and not on the bicycle, didn't add up. The trajectory of the bullet didn't match the explanation, said Pinellas Sheriff's Sgt. Greg Tita.

At St. Joseph's Hospital and nursing a gunshot wound to his right forearm early Thursday morning, David Anderson, 53, came clean.

He hadn't been randomly shot by someone in an unseen car while he was riding his bicycle on U.S. 19 in front of Karl Flammer Ford. Rather, Anderson told a Tarpon Springs detective, he had been shot by a drinking buddy, Arthur A. Cosgrove, 47.

So sheriff's deputies and a Tarpon detective paid a visit to Cosgrove's residence at 820 Elkan Drive in Tarpon Springs, a short walk from Anderson's house. Deputies saw what appeared to be a bullet hole in Cosgrove's north door, filled in with a blue substance that turned out to be toothpaste, Tita said.

Cosgrove told investigators that he and Anderson had been drinking at his house earlier in the night. They rode their bikes to to the Bridge Lounge in Tarpon Springs, where they drank some more, Tita said.

Cosgrove said he left the bar first, went home and then to bed. He said he was awakened by a knock on the door at about 1:30 a.m. It was Anderson. Cosgrove told detectives that Anderson wanted to come in and drink some more, Tita said.

Cosgrove said he repeatedly told Anderson to go away. Then, Cosgrove said, he heard Anderson trying to break in. So, Cosgrove said, he took out his .38 caliber revolver and fired one shot into the ceiling to scare Anderson away.

Later, according to Tita, Cosgrove said he fired the shot through the door, where Anderson was. Cosgrove said he was trying to protect his residence but had never intended to actually hit Anderson. In fact, he said, he didn't know he had.

Cosgrove said he had filled the bullet hole with toothpaste to keep bugs out.

Cosgrove was charged with shooting in an occupied dwelling and aggravated battery. He was being held in Pinellas County Jail on Friday on $20,000 bail.

Anderson was still in St. Joseph's Hospital Friday. He was listed in fair condition, a hospital spokesman said.

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