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Man Arrested In Pasco Shooting Stemming From Spat

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By LISA A. DAVIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 15, 2008

Updated: 09/15/2008 02:15 pm

  Harold Lee Stephens

DADE CITY - Pasco deputies have arrested a 60-year-old man Sunday in connection with a shooting that sent one man to a hospital.

Harold L. Stephens, of 14805 Johns Road, was arrested at his home Sunday night and faces a charge of aggravated battery. He is being held at the Land O' Lakes Jail with bail set at $10,000.

Pasco sheriff's officials say Stephens shot 49-year-old Terry Freeman in the back of his left armpit with a .22-caliber handgun at River and Johns roads at 3:15 p.m. Sunday.

Freeman was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, where was in good condition today.

The neighbors have apparently had an ongoing dispute for the past three years, according to sheriff's officials. Witnesses told deputies the pair had an argument Sunday, and Stephens, who weighs 450 pounds and uses a medical scooter, "aggressively" went after Freeman, who was sitting on his motorcycle at a stop sign.

Stephens drove his medical scooter within 4 feet of Freeman and shot him from behind, authorities said. Stephens, however, told deputies the shooting was in self-defense but couldn't explain why he shot him in the back, sheriff's office spokesman Doug Tobin said today.

Stephens, according to Tobin, told deputies Freeman tried to hit him with his motorcycle on Saturday, but deputies couldn't find witnesses to corroborate the claim.

Another neighbor told investigators, according to a report, that on Stephens told her on Saturday that he was going to shoot Freeman.

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