A Florida man and his 15-year-old son have been arrested on tried homicide prices and accused of capturing at an innocent woman after they acquired a mixed-up package deal at their door and suspected a burglar was breaking in, officers stated.
Gino Colonacosta, 73, and his son opened hearth Saturday morning after they received a Ring doorbell notification about somebody at the entrance door of their Winter Haven condo round 7 a.m., Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
That individual was a neighbor who acquired a drugs supply for the Coloncostas at his dwelling, and being “a good Samaritan” he took the medication and hung it on the Coloncostas’ entrance door, Judd stated.
But after they received an alert from their Ring doorbell digital camera, the father and his son left their dwelling armed with .45 caliber firearms trying to find an individual they suspected to be a burglar, the sheriff’s workplace stated.
Nearly 100 yards away, they discovered a woman wanting at her telephone in a darkish car with darkish home windows and the engine operating, and they focused her, Judd stated.
“When she looks up and she sees Gino standing at the back of the vehicle with a gun pointed at her, screaming for her to get out of the car, she thinks: ‘He’s about to carjack me. He’s about to rob me,’” Judd stated.
The woman threw her automotive into reverse in an try to again out of the best way and crashed right into a automotive behind her in the frantic escape.
The teenage son heard the commotion, neared the automotive and thought “our victim is trying to back into him,” and he opened hearth, Judd stated.
Colonacosta and his son began capturing into the automotive because the woman sped away.
They shot seven occasions. The woman, who was not hit, alerted the sheriff’s workplace.
The investigation discovered that one of many bullets went by way of a child’s automotive seat and lodged in the motive force’s seat.
“Our victim was that close to death, and certainly, had there been a baby in the car seat, the baby would have been killed,” Judd stated.
He stated the incident ranks amongst “the craziest stuff that I have seen in a while.”
“Here you’ve got these two guys who are way out of line. Way out of control. They don’t understand the Florida law,” he stated.
He famous that Florida has a “stand your ground law,” which permits folks to use or threaten power to shield their properties if they really feel somebody is threatening them or is attempting to make forcible entry, however “that doesn’t mean you can go search people out and shoot them.”
“And news flash, even if the first guy would’ve been the burglary suspect, if he was, they shot the wrong person,” Judd said.
Judd said neither Colonacosta nor his son had criminal records until Saturday morning, adding: “Our goal is for them to go to prison.
“You don’t shoot at people. You don’t leave the security of your home and go out and chase people down,” Judd stated in a pointy rebuke.
Colonacosta was arrested on charges of attempted felony murder with a weapon, improper exhibit of a firearm, negligence, discharging a firearm in public, parent guardian allowing unlawful possession, conspiracy and contributing to delinquency, according to booking records. He was being held on no bond.
His son was arrested on a charge of attempted felony murder and other counts.
It was not immediately clear whether Colonacosta or his son have lawyers.
