Daily Breeze Staff Report
news@breezenewspapers.com
Three Cape Coral men were arrested Sunday on attempted murder charges after an alleged drug deal went awry.
Raymond J. King , 21, 1216 S.E. 43rd Terrace, was charged with attempted murder, and Brandon L. Steed, 24, 1004 S.W. 47th Terrace, and Bradley A. Rogoszewski, 1300 S.W. 47th St., each was charged with principle to attempted murder following an altercation that resulted from an unsuccessful drug transaction, police said in a prepared statement released Sunday night.
The shooting victim, Robert H. Tofini III, 25, 3925 S.E. 1st Place, was shot in the chest but is recovering from what police say is a non-life threatening wound.
Police began investigating after the shooting, in the 4900 block of Skyline Boulevard, was reported at 2:26 p.m. Police say their investigation found that Steed, King and Rogoszewski contacted Tofini and arranged for him to buy drugs for them. The three picked up Tofini and drove him to a house near Skyline Boulevard and waited while Tofini entered the home. After about 20 minutes, police said, the three men realized that Tofini had left with their money. With Steed at the wheel, the suspects drove from the home and later spotted Tofini in the backseat of another vehicle driven by Ashley M. Harper, 19. Harper had a second passenger in the front seat, Leon Dabney.
Steed headed toward Tofini’s car and pulled up next to the vehicle. Rogoszewski was carrying a handgun, and King took the gun and fired one round into Tofini’s chest.
Harper fled the car on foot and called police. Dabney drove Harper’s vehicle to the 7-11 convenience store on Cape Coral Parkway, where emergency workers responded and took Tofini to Lee Memorial Hospital.
Witnesses provided information to police identifying King, Steed and Rogoszewski as the suspects. Deputies with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office located their vehicle and detained the men in a traffic stop. According to police, King admitted to shooting Tofini, and Steed admitted to being the driver of the vehicle. Rogoszewski admitted to having the handgun, which police recovered.