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Mother Of Wounded Man Says Deputies Erred

LISA A. DAVIS / The Tampa Tribune

Two deputies responded to a call of a domestic dispute at 3450 Devonshire Drive in the Beacon Square subdivision.

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By LISA A. DAVIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2007

Updated: 10/17/2007 12:26 pm

Crime Scene Video

HOLIDAY - The mother of a 23-year-old man shot in the chest by a Pasco County deputy last night says her son wasn't armed with knife he was holding a metal spatula.

Dorothy Miholics, 51, said this morning she was just feet away from son, Stephen, when he was fired on by a deputy just before 11 p.m. Tuesday. At first, she said, she thought her son was only stunned by a Taser, but when deputies told her to get a towel and they started applying pressure to the wound, she realized a bullet had pierced him.

He is in fair condition today at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.

Two deputies responded to a call of a domestic dispute at 3450 Devonshire Drive in the Beacon Square subdivision, and, according to preliminary information released by sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll, they were met by a knife-wielding man. They say he had knives in both hands.

Dorothy Miholics, however, said today that she saw a spatula in one of his hands and nothing else.

Doll didn't immediately return a call seeking comment about the mother's claim.

When Stephen Miholics came home sometime after 9 last night he was drunk and upset over things going wrong in his life, including job hunting and unpaid traffic violation fines, his mother said. He intentionally put his hands through two windows and was yelling enough to prompt his younger sister to dial 911, Dorothy Miholics said.

"He was definitely upset," she said. "He had a tough time because he couldn't find a job but to shoot him? That wasn't necessary. I mean, he didn't lunge for anybody. He didn't move. I mean, his hands were down."

Miholics said her son was shot moments after two deputies arrived and there didn't seem to be much verbal communication.

Stephen had words for the deputies, she said.

"Go ahead. Bring it on," she recalled him saying.

Soon a shot rang out, and Stephen Miholics hit the ground.

Miholics said her son's actions warranted his being Tasered.

"I'm upset they felt they had to use a gun," she said.

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