A Florida father and his 15-year-old son had been arrested on tried homicide fees after they shot at a lady who they mistakenly believed was making an attempt to interrupt into their residence, officers mentioned.
Gino Colonacosta, 73, and his son opened hearth Saturday morning after they received a Ring doorbell notification about somebody on the entrance door of their Winter Haven condo round 7 a.m. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd mentioned.
That individual was a neighbor who obtained a medication supply for the Coloncostas at his residence, and being “a Good Samaritan” he took the drugs and hung it on the Coloncosta’s entrance door, Judd mentioned.
However after receiving an alert from their Ring doorbell digicam, the daddy and son exited their residence armed with .45 caliber firearms trying to find an individual they suspected to be a burglar, based on the sheriff’s workplace.
Almost 100 yards away, they discovered a lady sitting in a darkish coloured automobile with darkish home windows and the engine working, taking a look at her telephone, and focused her, Judd mentioned.
“When she seems up and he or she sees Gino standing behind the automobile with a gun pointed at her, screaming for her to get out of the automotive, she thinks, ‘He’s about to carjack me, he’s about to rob me,’” Judd mentioned.
The girl threw her automotive into reverse in an try and again out of the way in which, and crashed right into a automotive behind her within the frantic escape.
The teenage son heard the commotion and neared the automotive and thought “our sufferer is making an attempt to again into him” and he opened hearth, Judd mentioned.
Each Colonacosta and his son began capturing into the automotive as the lady sped away.
They shot a complete of seven occasions. The girl was not hit, and alerted the sheriff’s workplace.
The investigation discovered that one of many bullets went via a child’s automotive seat and lodged into the driving force’s seat of the automotive.
“Our sufferer was that near demise and positively had there been a child within the automotive seat, the infant would have been killed,” Judd mentioned.
The sheriff mentioned the incident ranks amongst “the craziest stuff that I’ve seen shortly.”
“Right here you’ve received these two guys, who’re method out of line. Means uncontrolled. They don’t perceive the Florida regulation,” he mentioned.
He famous that Florida has a “stand your floor regulation,” which permits an individual to make use of or threaten pressure to guard their residence in the event that they really feel an individual is threatening them or is making an attempt to make forcible entry, however “that doesn’t imply you’ll be able to go search individuals out and shoot them.”
“And information flash, even when the primary man would’ve been the housebreaking suspect, if he was, they shot the improper individual,” Judd mentioned.
The sheriff mentioned neither Colonacosta or his son had felony data till Saturday morning, including, “our purpose is for them to go to jail.
“You don’t shoot at individuals. You don’t go away the safety of your property and exit and chase individuals down,” Judd mentioned in a pointy rebuke.
Colonacosta was arrested on a cost of tried felony homicide with a weapon, improper exhibit of a firearm, negligence, discharging a firearm in public, guardian guardian permitting illegal possession, conspiracy, and contributing to delinquency, based on reserving data. He is being held on no bond.
His son was arrested on a cost of tried felony homicide and different counts.
It isn’t instantly clear if Colonacosta or his son have a lawyer.
