A dispute early Tuesday morning over an allegedly stolen cell phone resulted in a Port Charlotte man being arrested on charges of Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle and Aggravated Battery.
At about 2:00 am on Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office responded to 341 Evans Street in Port Charlotte concerning a report of a disturbance in which gunshots were fired. When they arrived, residents at the house told them that a black Ford Mustang had been involved. Deputies located that vehicle around the block in the parking lot of a church on Orlando Blvd. One of the vehicle’s occupants had a gunshot wound from a shot that had penetrated the vehicle’s door. The victim was transported to a local hospital where he was treated and released.
The Major Crimes Unit was called to investigate and found that the people in the vehicle had alleged that a cell phone belonging to one of the people was located at the Evans Street home and they were coming to get it. Mark James Donovan, 18, of 341 Evans Street in Port Charlotte, and some of his friends met the people in the car with firearms and they returned to the Mustang to flee the area.
Donovan had left a .22 cal. Rifle in the wood line across from his house. When the vehicle began to leave the area, he allegedly ran across the street, grabbed the rifle and fired two shots at the Mustang. One shot went through the rear passenger’s door and struck the victim in the calf.
Donovan was arrested on the two charges and transported to the Charlotte County Jail. He was being held without bond pending a First Appearance hearing this morning.