Man shoots at mouse, ends up arrested for drugs

Dr. Qi Zhou

Well, not just for drugs. 22-year-old Frankie Rosa is also facing charges of criminal recklessness after police in Indianapolis, Indiana were called out to Rosa’s home this week on reports of shots fired. When they arrived, they found Rosa outside the home squatting on the ground, along with a perturbed neighbor who told officers that Rosa had fired a gun at a mouse caught in a sticky trap, which was also in the line of fire of both the man and his son.

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Rosa told officers that he was outside shooting his gun because he had a mouse caught in a trap. He added that he brought the trap outside and fired one shot. When asked where he was standing by officers, Rosa pointed in the direction of the home. He also stated the gun was under his pillow inside.

Court documents state officers then spoke to [Richard] Arias who stated he and his 8-year-old son were in front of Rosa when he fired one shot at the trap facing toward them. Arias said he grabbed his son and called 911 after shots were fired.

Another neighbor said he was standing with Arias and his son when Rosa shot the gun in their direction in an attempt to kill the mouse.

Detectives who also questioned Rosa say he was mad that his house had mice and attempted to tell the landlord about the situation but nothing was done. After finding the mouse stuck in the sticky trap he fired one shot at the mouse while Arias, Arias’ son, and neighbor were standing two to three feet beside him.

Arias told officers that after catching two mice on stick traps he told Rosa to “wait and the mice would die.” Rosa then responded stating, “you don’t have to wait.” He pulled out his firearm and shot the mouse.

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I live in an old farmhouse that is decidedly not mouse-proof, and I’ve lost track of how many critters we’ve caught over the ten years we’ve lived here. Yet not once did it ever cross my mind to dispose of the pests by shooting at them, even with a .22. That’s overkill, but in Rosa’s case it was also stupidly dangerous given that there were others around when he discharged his weapon.

Things got even worse for Rosa after police obtained a search warrant for his home and found not only a Taurus 9mm and a spent shell casing inside his bedroom, but a several baggies with a “green, leafy substance” inside along with a safe containing a few pills; including Clonazepam, Alprazolam pills, Xanax, and Oxycodone Hydrochloride. Local news accounts haven’t said if Rosa had a prescription for any of them, but given that he’s now facing not only a charge of felony reckless discharge but additional felony counts of possessing and dealing narcotics, it sounds more like he was engaged in some unlicensed pharmaceutical sales than keeping his prescriptions in a safe place.

It’s possible that Rosa could even face federal charges of being an unlawful user of drugs as a gun owner as a result of his harebrained attempt at pest control, though the state-level charges are serious enough that the local U.S. Attorney may not get involved. Either way Rosa’s likely going to have a new landlord and place of residence thanks to his idiotic (and possibly drug-induced) decision to bring a gun to a mousefight. I don’t know how rodent-free Indiana’s prison system is, but I have a feeling he’s gonna find out for himself before long.

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