A man with a gunshot wound was arrested after reporting a drive-by shooting in Central Florida.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the reported drive-by shooting at a residence on 2nd Avenue NW in Mulberry.
According to local law enforcement, 22-year-old James Ansony Sosa-Pinto, of Mulberry, reported the shooting to various staff members after he showed up at a Lakeland Regional Health ER with a gunshot wound to his left leg.
Deputies went to Sosa-Pinto’s home and found blood in his bedroom. They also found a spent casing and bullet in the room, and a impact mark on the floor. Multiple vape cartridges containing THC resin were also recovered from the bedroom.
According to law enforcement, the gunshot wound on Sosa-Pinto’s leg revealed that a bullet had entered on the thigh, and exited through the calf. Powder burns were located near the entry wound and were also present on Sosa-Pinto’s left hand.
Evidence showed that Sosa-Pinto accidentally shot himself, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office determined. Confronted with the inconsistencies to his claim of a drive-by shooting, Sosa-Pinto backtracked and said that he never reported that he was the victim of a drive-by.
After being treated for his injury, James Ansony Sosa-Pinto was arrested and taken to the Sheriff’s Processing Center where he was charged with: False Report of a Firearm Used in a Violent Manner, Possession of Cannabis Resin, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
