A Tampa woman, Tina Wynne, 35, who was delivering phone books in a Riverview neighborhood early Saturday morning, said a former Hillsborough Sheriff's Office deputy shot at her and a passenger for no apparent reason.

"I was just sitting there and he just rolled up on us," she said. "Just opened fire on my car, while I was sitting there."

The incident happened at the intersection of Venezia Place and Maronda Drive at 12:00 a.m., when former deputy Mark Molins, 46, exited his vehicle and fired one round from a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun into the front driver's side window, according to an arrest report. Wynne's boyfriend, Michael Stewart, 45, said he was walking on the sidewalk at the time and witnessed the shooting.

“(He) screams ‘stop’ and starts shooting," Stewart said. "He acted like he was going to chase them down and I intervened by running out there and getting his tag number."   

One of the vehicle's window was shattered in the shooting.

Stewart said they did not deliver a phone book to Molins' home a few blocks away, never exchanged any words with him and has no idea why the ex-deputy shot into the car. The Tampa man said the way Molins drove up on the car and jumped out with his gun, made him think it was an undercover police officer.

"To me, he did everything that a police would do. That’s what made me think he was the police at first and I kind of relaxed a little bit thinking that he’s just messing with us because we’re riding through the neighborhood doing our job. He might not would’ve known what was going on," he said. "But his actions just showed that he wanted to kill. He had no intentions of questioning."

Wynne said Molins almost blew her head off and nearly struck the passenger. The bullet left a gash in the dashboard.

"I had glass in my face... real close," she said. "It was like he was aiming for my head."

Molins resigned his position as a detention deputy at the Orient Road Jail in 2010, after an internal affairs investigation found he used unnecessary force on an inmate and lied on a report about the incident. Jail officials said had the 18 year veteran not resigned, he would've been fired.

Stewart said Molins denied that she shot into the car when confronted at his home on Saturday.

“I said, 'somebody just shot at my girlfriend down the street.' And he was like, 'oh man, I’ve been in the house all day. I’ve been in the house all day. I didn’t do anything,'" said Stewart. "And I was like, 'well your truck looks like the truck that was involved.' And he was like, 'no man, I swear I’ve been here all day.'"

The shooting left on hole in the dashboard of Wynn's vehicle.

Stewart said Hillsborough Sheriff's deputies used an infrared camera from their helicopter to prove that Molins had recently driven his pickup truck.
Molins admitted to the offense and was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to an affidavit. Molins was booked into the same jail he once worked at and was released a couple of hours later on a $2,000 bond.

Wynne and Stewart said they were disappointed with the charge and the bond amount.

"It should have been attempted murder and not just assault with a deadly weapon," said Wynne. "He tried to kill me."

Defense attorney, Jay Hebert, who has no connection to this case, said he was surprised by the charge and bond.

"I don’t think there are many cases in the Bay Area that have a $2,000 bond for firing a gun into vehicle occupied by two people," Hebert said. "This is shooting into an occupied vehicle... It’s not just an aggravated assault. An aggravated assault is when you shoot at somebody who is just standing there... It could even be upgraded to 1st degree or 2nd degree murder depending on the facts and circumstances."

Mark Molins was booked into the same jail he once worked at and was released a couple of hours later on a $2,000 bond.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesman Larry McKinnon said because a firearm was used during the aggravated assault, it carries a three year mandatory minimum sentence upon conviction. McKinnon said $2,000 is the standard bond amount for that charge, which is set by the Chief Judge through an administrative order.

"Charges are going to be decided by the State Attorney’s Office," said Hebert. "I’m sure that Mark Ober’s office will take a long hard look at this case."

Molins did not want to talk about the case when Bay News 9 contacted him at his home. Wynne said she feels lucky to be alive.

"I can’t believe that he would have the mentality to just think that that would be okay," she said. "Just get out the car and just randomly shoot somebody. I didn’t do anything to you, man. Nothing, nothing at all."