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Off-duty deputy fires shot at man

The deputy saw the man attacking a girlfriend in a parking area, authorities say.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published December 24, 2005

LARGO - An off-duty Pinellas sheriff's deputy intervened in a domestic dispute Friday morning, firing one shot at a man attacking a girlfriend, the Sheriff's Office said.

The officer fired as the man ran from a parking area and toward the woman's apartment. The officer's bullet missed the man, ricocheted and struck an entertainment center in the apartment, sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said.

As policy, Deputy Nicholas M. Bedy, 26, will be placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. He declined to comment.

The incident unfolded at 4:11 a.m. when Bedy awoke to the disturbance at 13051 Thoroughbred Loop, not far from the deputy's home, McMullen said. He grabbed a handgun, a Glock 26, and went to investigate, he said.

Bedy saw Frank Hoffmeister, 31, attacking Kathy Lynn Irgens, 26, in the parking area of the Cumberland Trace condominium complex off Ulmerton Road and went to help, McMullen said.

"She had numerous bruises and at one point, he had his hands around her neck," he said.

Bedy showed his badge, but Hoffmeister ran for Irgens' apartment, where she had just fled.

Bedy fired one shot, fearing Hoffmeister intended to continue assaulting Irgens, McMullen said. Hoffmeister ran for a car, but Bedy then took him into custody on charges of burglary and domestic battery.

Hoffmeister was being held without bail Friday at the Pinellas County Jail.

In 2000, Bedy, then a rookie officer with St. Petersburg police, resigned after being accused of using excessive force.

During a struggle with a car theft suspect, Bedy punched the man several times in the chest while two other officers were holding the man.

Police supervisors substantiated the allegations and said he would have been fired if he hadn't quit.

[Last modified December 24, 2005, 01:10:16]