By SHAWN McGRATH

ANDERSON — Madison County prosecutors have charged an Anderson man with insurance fraud, claiming he bilked an insurance company out of thousands of dollars in medical expenses after he accidentally shot his girlfriend.

Bernard R. Fogle, 57, was arrested shortly after noon Tuesday at the Madison County Jail on a single charge of insurance fraud, a Class C felony punishable by two to eight years behind bars, if convicted. He was released about three hours later after posting bond.

An initial court appearance for Fogle has not yet been scheduled, and it wasn’t immediately known if has hired an attorney.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the charges:

Fogle accidentally shot then-46-year-old Teresa Cole in the foot while working on a muzzle loader rifle while inside their home in the 600 block of West 53rd Street on Aug. 8, 2005. Cole was initially taken to Saint John’s Medical Center, but was later flown by helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

Cole received treatments for the wound over the next 10 months, incurring several thousand dollars in medical bills, mostly covered by BlueCross/BlueShield.

Fogle had worked for Culligan Water since June 2001, and when he started he claimed Cole was his wife. His employers became suspicious, however, after reading about the shooting in The Herald Bulletin. The newspaper account of the incident identified Cole as Fogle’s girlfriend.

Fogle was fired in September 2005, after admitting he falsified health insurance and employment paperwork, claiming Cole was his wife. Beginning in June 2002, Cole racked up about $123,000 in medical expenses and billed them to Blue Cross.

A published telephone listing for Fogle could not be located. He could not be reached for comment.