The Tampa man is hospitalized with a chest wound after an argument with a friend had come to blows.
By Times Staff Writer
Published May 10, 2004
TAMPA - Police say an afternoon of drinking between friends ended with one of them being stabbed in the chest with a barbecue fork.
Police charged Scott Louis Gonzalez, 44, with aggravated battery with great bodily harm. He remained in jail Sunday in lieu of $15,000 bail.
Michael Scott Hodge, 33, was in serious condition at St. Joseph's Hospital on Sunday.
Police said Hodge and Gonzalez had been drinking most of the afternoon on Saturday when they began to argue about a pickup the two share.
The argument turned physical, police said, and the men began punching each other. The fighting continued inside Hodge's home, where Hodge slammed Gonzalez into a portable cabinet and hit him several times in the head, authorities said. Gonzalez retaliated by grabbing a large barbecue fork and stabbing Hodge in the upper left chest at least once, police said.
Gonzalez's charge report lists him as a retired employee of the Tampa Fire Department.
According to records, Gonzalez was arrested in December and charged with two counts of carrying a concealed firearm, fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving under the influence. He refused to take a blood alcohol test, records showed.
