Nicholas Harris, 20

Police arrested a St. Petersburg man last week who, they say, beat another man unconscious with a BB gun and, believing the man to be dead, asked his girlfriend to help bury the body.

Police said Nicholas M. Harris, 20, planned to kill the man Monday. He hit the victim in the face with a metal BB gun repeatedly, broke his nose and rendered him unconscious, authorities said.

Harris thought he'd killed the man, so he placed him in a car and drove home, police said. A witness and Harris' girlfriend watched as he dragged the victim inside, according to police. Harris asked his girlfriend to help bury the body, and when she refused he threatened to kill her and the other witness with a knife, authorities said.

After a few hours, the victim woke. Harris' mother and brother drove the man to the hospital, where doctors treated his broken nose. He also required stitches.

Harris was taken to the Pinellas County Jail and held on $260,000 bail.

He was charged with first-degree attempted murder and multiple counts of battery, assault, false imprisonment, possessing a firearm as a felon, and burglary.